McLaren to give IndyCar star latest F1 practice outing

McLaren is to give its IndyCar star Pato O'Ward his 'home' F1 debut with a practice outing at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

O'Ward, who finished second in the Indy 500 in May to Josef Newgarden, will get behind the wheel of the MCL38 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as part of the mandatory young driver FP1 sessions. 

The Mexican has previously taken part in FP1 at the 2022 and 2023 Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, and has also driven in the post-season Abu Dhabi test and TPC testing in Barcelona and at the Red Bull Ring.

O'Ward is a reserve driver for the F1 team, having been on McLaren's books in IndyCar since 2020.

He is sixth in the 2024 standings heading into the Nashville finale, with Alex Palou - a former McLaren contracted driver - set to win his third series title for the Ganassi team. 

Elsewhere, McLaren have also confirmed that NASCAR ace Kyle Larson will once again aim to complete double duty at the 2025 Indianapolis 500. 

Larson became the first driver since Kurt Busch in 2014 to attempt to race in the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coke 600 on the same day - a rare feat. 

He led at Indy after qualifying fifth on his first appearance, but finished 18th in the heavily-delayed race due to rain storms after a pit-lane speeding penalty.

This delayed his journey to North Carolina for the NASCAR event, and was given a relief driver to start before arriving in Charlotte.

The same rain that delayed the Indy 500 had by then moved south from Indiana to North Carolina, meaning the race was red-flagged and not restarted, meaning Larson never drove his #5 Hendrick Motorsports machine.