28 November 2023 , 17:23
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IndyCar star Pato O'Ward has admitted his desire to race in Formula 1.
The Mexican driver is a reserve for McLaren next year in addition to his regular duties racing in the American single-seater series. And he has enjoyed plenty of time behind the wheel of the MCL60 over the past week.
The 24-year-old finally earned his FIA superlicence this year which made him eligible to take part in FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. And he followed that up on Tuesday with several hours of post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit.
And O'Ward impressed over the course of his 103 laps. He set the second fastest time of the day, bettered only by Alpine's Esteban Ocon and wore a beaming smile as he spoke to reporters afterwards.
"Every time you do more FP1s or more testing, that's just more time in the car," he said. "And that means someone is ultimately believing in you and giving you that opportunity to be ready if those doors do open."
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O'Ward competes for McLaren's IndyCar outfit and is a four-time race winner in that series. He insists he still has unfinished business in the US, but is eyeing a future switch to race in F1 if the opportunity arises.
He added: "I'm fully focused on what I have to do in IndyCar because I want to give the Indy 500 win to McLaren, I want to be the one that gives it to them because I've been with them for four years, starting my fifth next year. And then it would be quite the Cinderella story to tackle the challenge in Formula 1 and be a contender, not just to come here and have fun."
It comes after he compared what it was like to drive IndyCar and F1 machines following his FP1 stint last Friday. Speaking to Sky Sports about his experience, he declared: "They are two very different beasts. The Formula 1 car, in every area, there is no other car that I feel like comes close to it. The way it brakes, the way it accelerates, the way it changes direction.
"The aero that they have, they are such capable cars and you can really tell that they are made to go as fast as is humanly possible within a certain set of rules around a road course. If you put an IndyCar and a Formula 1 car on the same track, for example I think Austin is the best comparison that we've had, and there's 14 seconds [between them].
"It really isn't a comparison from one to the other. They're just very different cars made for different types of circuits. The IndyCar needs to withstand hits at 240mph at the Indy 500 and the Formula 1 car is just a rocket ship on wheels. That's the best way that I can explain it."