Intro To IndyCar - Arrow McLaren - Pt 4 - Pato O'Ward

Wrapping up our Arrow McLaren portion of Intro to IndyCar is the man hurtling towards being bigger than the sport, one of the three men used by Fox to advertise IndyCar, and who signed a man's bare chest last week.

Patricio (Pato) O'Ward is coming for your attention, at least, whether you like it or not. Here is his headshot and IndyCar driver profile.

For many people, Pato has been the gateway into IndyCar. I include myself in this group, as I had very little interest in IndyCar but a lot of interest in the guy clowning on camera during FP2 and FP3 in the back half of the season.

This is exactly the sort of person he is, but we'll get to the personality bit later.

Patricio (known to most as Pato) was born in May 1999 in Monterey, Mexico. He began karting in 2005 at the age of five.

His first year of karting, he came third in the competition he was entered in.

2007 saw two categorical wins.

2008 saw him win a national title within the United States in the Micro Max category.

2009 saw him place either first, second or third in all five championships he was entered in.

All before ten years old.

After moving through the upper karting categories, he began to compete in the lower formulas.

2014 saw him shift to compete in French F4, where he came in seventh.

After that, he returned to North America and began on the Road To Indy.

2016 he came second in Pro Mazda (now known as USF Pro 2000) with Team Pelfrey.

2017, he and Team Pelfrey stepped into Indy Lights. Not the best performance, but the freshly eighteen year old shifted into driving endurance races with IMSA as well as Indy Lights. In the IMSA Sports Car category, Pato finished first in the championship.

After his rookie year, he shifted teams. Going from Pelfrey to Andretti, Pato dominated the 2018 Indy Lights season. He came first in his rookie year, beating second place finisher Colton Herta by forty four points. He won nine of the seventeen races and placed off the podium only twice.

This had him make his IndyCar debut at the final race at Sonoma with Harding Racing.

After that, he joined a stacked rookie class for the 2019 IndyCar season. He spent his rookie year with Carlin, where he competed for about half of the races. Pato finished twenty sixth that year, with 115 points. 2019's Rookie of the Year was Felix Rosenqvist, who finished sixth.

But 2020 had him step into the Arrow McLaren #5 car and hightail it up the ladder. Completing every race that season, Pato saw the podium four separate times and pole position once. He would jump from twenty sixth in the standings to fourth.

Then came the top step. Pato won his maiden IndyCar race during the second race in Texas in 2021, after finishing third at the first race. He saw one more win that year, at the second race in Detroit. Of the seventeen races in 2021, he only missed the top ten five times, and saw the podium three additional times outside of wins. Top it all with two poles - though he did not convert either - and Pato finished in third in the championship.

Like his counterparts at Andretti, 2022 and 2023 were rough. Though he won twice in 2022, he tumbled down to seventh in the standings, with eight finishes outside of the top ten and a completely missed pole position conversion at Mid-Ohio.

On top of that, this was his first chance at winning the Indy 500. A tight race until the end, Pato was unable to pass Ericsson and finished second after a tight and competitive race. To all IndyCar drivers, the 500 is the race of all races, the one that elevates you. To miss it like that is frustrating, so close and yet so far.

However, 2022 wasn't all frustration. It also started his time as the test driver for McLaren Formula 1 Team. Unlike Colton Herta, Pato's link to someone full time in Formula 1 has allowed him to start as a test and then step up to reserve, all while driving full time in IndyCar.

Pato's final win and podium of the 2022 season was at Iowa. This began a long stretch of winlessness. Though 2023 elevated him back to fourth in the standings, he had no wins or pole positions the entire season.

As is the pattern we've seen with every driver that wasn't a rookie in 2024, 2024 was a strange year. After a series of disqualifications, Pato inherited the win at the season opener in St. Pete. After not qualifying for Thermal, there was a string of unimpressive finishes for the following three races.

After that came the most heartbreaking moment in a 2024 IndyCar race. Pato had a brilliant Indy 500, battling for the lead and eventually getting it. Yet in the last three laps he was passed expertly by Penske's Newgarden and could not respond in time. The checkered flag fell, and Pato finished second.

If 2022 was frustration, 2024 was devastation. To see Pato out of the car afterwards, in tears on the broadcast, it was truly emotional. Though many see tears as a negative thing, to go between the elation of Newgarden and the devastation of Pato reminds you of the humanity of racing. One person's win is another's loss oftentimes.

While a slow season starter, Pato's luck changed after the 500. Three top ten finishes after the 500 then had the whole series perform an engine change.

This created a shift, and the first race with the hybrid, Mid-Ohio, saw Pato break his winless streak. Buoyed by that, the back half of 2024 was mixed but not bad. Pato finished fifth in the championship, fifty nine points ahead of 500 winner Newgarden.

Moving into 2025, he has two years left on his contract and has been fully elevated to McLaren reserve driver.

Now we get to the why. A point to make is why is this man, who has never won a 500 or the IndyCar Championship, in the ads?

That's an easy enough question to answer. Pato is positioning himself to be bigger than the sport.

While some people buy notoriety, either by submitting blind items or advertising left right and center, it's his love for what he does that has him gliding towards notoriety. Pato is Mexican, the only full time IndyCar Mexican driver. While Mexican fans are very loyal to their athletes, he does more than just perform and go home.

He engages.

Though a sport like Formula 1 may not allow events for safety concerns, or does ask their drivers to be careful and intentional, IndyCar does not. Since the start of his career, Pato and his team have been going into the communities IndyCar is in and connecting with the fans. By making himself accessible, people are able to connect with him in a way they aren't with other drivers. By giving fans that, it opens more and more people up to not only the driver, but the sport in general.

A few examples of this from the last year. After the IndyCar season was over, Pato stayed with the Formula 1 season. Although F1 had a Mexican driver at the time, McLaren also sponsored a meet and greet with Pato at a mall. There were three stories of fans waiting to see him, and by all accounts he stayed and took pictures and signed with everyone he could.

At the Las Vegas Grand Prix, I heard the same from fellow race goers. Though I was interested in going and seeing him, I got caught up in the weekend. Yet a few people went to see him, and spoke very highly of him. He stayed, he signed, he connected. That sort of care, of love for the people who have his back, makes him extra special.

Consistent appearances, on top of a likable and fun public persona, have people interested in him. Though sometimes he can make a stray comment or two, he does stay in line with non controversial topics, and we know a bit but not a lot of what makes him himself. Whether or not it's a skilled PR strategist behind him, he has made people love him through his enthusiasm and lack of controversy. Can he be somewhat 'cringey'? Yes, but all of us can. He's just not afraid to be a hambone off the track and a force of nature on it. It's endearing.

Now that you've heard all of that, you're probably wondering why wouldn't he be in contention for the Cadillac F1 seat in 2026? He has experience long term in F1 cars, he has a solid fan base and would also most likely collect most Mexican F1 fans by virtue of nationality. He'd be great for media like Drive to Survive, good for marketing in general.

But there are several reasons why not. Firstly, he hasn't won the 500. With two near misses, it would be unlikely for him to walk away unless he's won. With the F1 season being so demanding and long, there would be a very small likelihood that he could take at least two weeks of May off for the 500; if he could, would he even feel comfortable?

Secondly, he hasn't won the title. To work as hard as he has been for Arrow McLaren, to walk to a competitor without the title seems unlikely. Arrow McLaren have Andretti as competition on a national and international level starting in 2026. To walk without something seems unlikely from Pato.

Thirdly, he's in a binding contract with Arrow McLaren. After the great Palou contract fiasco, it would be very unlikely for Arrow McLaren to let their star driver go anywhere besides McLaren F1 Team. It'd be shooting themselves in the foot.

Finally, Cadillac is an unknown. He hasn't had a relationship with Andretti since Indy Lights, and therefore has little loyalty to them. He has no obligation to wait through the slog of building a team from the bottom up and the risk of failure if they can't nail the regulations. On the other hand, McLaren Formula 1 Team may currently have two drivers under contract, but as we all know, that could mean anything. By 2027, when his contract runs out, he could be an ideal partner to whichever McLaren driver is left standing.

Overall, Pato is a fan favorite for a reason. Watching him race is always a good time, and even if he's at the back of the pack, he'll try his hardest to move. If you choose to follow him, you also choose someone who information is readily available about before, during and after a race. Someone who you can interact with on social media.

From what I glean, a pretty solid guy wiht a bright future ahead of him, no matter where he goes.

Next up is A.J. Foyt Enterprises!