Pato O’Ward

Who is Pato O’Ward?

On 6 May 1999, Pato O'Ward was born in Monterrey, Mexico. When he was six years old, he started his racing career with karting. This he did for seven years until 2012. Not without success, O'Ward won several championships from Mexico and North America. After quitting karting, he made the switch to formula racing, where he raced with several classes.

When he was 17, he and his teammates won the PC class of the 24 Hours of Daytona. This also set a record, as he is the youngest driver ever to have achieved this.

Pato O’Ward IndyCar Series

In 2018, Pato O'Ward made his debut in Indy Lights with the Andretti Autosport team. Here he performed well immediately, as he took the championship title.

Following this, he debuted in the IndyCar Series at Sanoma Raceway and took the Rookie of the Year title. The following season, O'Ward was also actually supposed to be a full-time IndyCar Series driver, but unfortunately that did not happen due to lack of sponsors. In 2020, he did return to the track for Arrow McLaren's team in the IndyCar Series.

During the 2021 season, he finished third in the championship. That season he also earned his first IndyCar Series win. Success followed, as in 2022 season he took pole and two wins. In 2023, he will still drive for the Arrow McLaren team alongside full-time teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi.

2023 Indy 500

Pato O'Ward will start from 5th position in the Indy 500 on Sunday, 28 May at 11:00 AM ET, qualifying at 233.252 mph. Teammate Alex Palou will start from pole position. Could O'Ward still beat him? You will see on Sunday, May 28.

Red Bull Junior Team

Pato O'Ward's journey with the Red Bull Junior Team began in May 2019, when he joined their ranks. The following month, an exciting opportunity awaited him as he stepped in as a substitute for Mahaveer Raghunathan in the Formula 2 championship at the iconic Red Bull Ring. However, despite his remarkable achievements in the Indy Lights championship, O'Ward faced a setback due to a decision by the FIA to allocate fewer Super License points for his win. As a result, his dream of racing in Formula 1 in 2020 was thwarted, and Red Bull chose not to extend his contract beyond 2019.

Formula 1 debut

After driving a number of tests for McLaren at the end of the 2021 F1 season, and twice, together with Alex Palou in the 2022 season, O'Ward was also allowed to take to the track during the first free practice session in Abu Dhabi in 2022. He got into the Haas car and clocked the 18th time after driving 22 laps.