Pato O'Ward
Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco (born 6 May 1999) is a Mexican professional auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion. Early life and career. Born to Patricio O'Ward and Elba Junco in Monterrey, Mexico, he attended school in San Antonio, Texas. He is of Irish descent. O'Ward began his racing career in karting at the end of 2005 and remained in karting until 2012. During 2013, he competed in open-wheel racing, in Latam Fórmula 2000, Formula Renault 1.6  NEC and Pacific Formula F2000. In 2014, O'Ward competed in French F4 Championship. In 2015, O'Ward debuted in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey, finishing sixth in the championship. In 2016, O'Ward returned to compete with Team Pelfrey in the Pro Mazda Championship, finishing the season as championship runner-up to Aaron Telitz. Indy Lights. In 2018, O'Ward signed with Andretti Autosport to compete in the Indy Lights championship. He won nine of the 17 races, was named "Rookie of the Year" and won the drivers championship at the penultimate race of the season in Portland, besting runner-up  Colton Herta. Stint with Red Bull Junior Team. In May 2019, O'Ward was signed to the Red Bull Junior Team and the following month, was placed on a one-event deal to compete at the Red Bull Ring in Formula 2, substituting for the banned Mahaveer Raghunathan, and was announced as Dan Ticktum's replacement in the Super Formula Championship. Due to a decision by the FIA to award fewer Super License points for O'Ward's Indy Lights championship win, O'Ward was unable to attain the required points to be able to race Formula One in 2020 and thus was  not retained by Red Bull past 2019. With IndyCar series rides available, Red Bull driver development program head Helmut Marko granted O'Ward an early release from his contract after three Super Formula rounds. IndyCar. IndyCar debut (2018). Two weeks after clinching the 2018 Indy Lights championship title, O'Ward made his IndyCar Series debut at Sonoma Raceway in a second Harding Racing entry, where he qualified fifth and finished ninth. This tied him with David Martínez for the best finish on debut by a Mexican driver in American open-wheel racing. Part-time drive with Carlin (2019). In 2019, O'Ward was  scheduled to move up to the IndyCar Series full-time, piloting the No. 8 entry for Harding Steinbrenner Racing. However, sponsorship issues led to O'Ward being granted his release from the team on February 11, 2019. On March 7, O'Ward joined Carlin on a part-time deal that saw him drive in 13 races in the 2019 season. O'Ward drove Carlin's second entry for 12 races and drove Carlin's third entry for the Indianapolis 500. O'Ward failed to qualify for the Indy 500 along with Carlin teammate Max Chilton and the Carlin-prepared car of McLaren Racing's  Fernando Alonso. His Red Bull deal, which was signed in May, also saw him only compete in eight of the 13 events he originally signed for. He placed 26th in the final points standings, with the best race finish of eighth, achieved at the Circuit of the Americas. On October 30, it was announced that O'Ward had returned to IndyCar by signing a deal with Arrow McLaren SP for the 2020 season. Arrow McLaren SP (2020–present). 2020: Indianapolis 500 success. In his first season for Arrow McLaren SP (AMSP), O'Ward was partnered by Oliver Askew for most races, with  Hélio Castroneves replacing Askew at the Harvest GP and with Fernando Alonso in a third entry at the Indianapolis 500. O’Ward had a strong start to 2020, clinching pole position and achieving his first podium finish at the second round of the Road America double-header, finishing second. At Iowa, he finished fourth in the first race. He was fourth in the overall points standings heading into the Indianapolis 500, which was held in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. O'Ward would go on to finish sixth in his first Indianapolis 500 start and won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of  the Year award for his performance. He subsequently scored consecutive podium finishes in the double-header at World Wide Technology Raceway. O'Ward was placing as high as third in the driver standings before finishing eleventh and ninth at the double-header at Mid-Ohio and a disappointing 22nd place at the first race of the Harvest GP double-header at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which dropped him to fifth in the overall standings. After signing a new deal with AMSP, he finished second in the season finale at St. Petersburg, securing fourth in the final championship standings. 2021: Championship fight. O'Ward 's second season with Arrow McLaren SP saw him partner Felix Rosenqvist, previously of Chip Ganassi Racing. O'Ward emerged as a title contender in 2021. He started the season off by earning his second career pole position at the season opener at Barber but was unable to convert that pole position into a win. O'Ward took his first podium of the season with a third-place finish in the first race at the Texas Motor Speedway and took his maiden IndyCar victory in the second race the following day. He became the first Mexican driver to win an IndyCar race  since Adrian Fernandez in 2004 at Fontana and the first Chevrolet driver not from Team Penske to win a race since 2016. After taking his first win, O'Ward never dropped lower than third in the championship standings, consistently fending off series champions Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon while challenging Álex Palou for much of the season. He started on the pole and finished third at the first race at the Detroit double-header and scored his second win of the season at the second race, his first win on a street course. He achieved his third pole position of the  season at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, where he eventually finished fifth in the race. He achieved another podium with a second-place finish at Gateway, taking the championship lead for the first time in the season. However, a 14th place finish at Portland by O'Ward saw race-winner Palou retake the lead. At the penultimate race of the season, he clinched a fifth-place finish, remaining second in the points standings heading into the season finale. At the season finale at Long Beach, O'Ward was one of three drivers who were mathematically in contention for the series  title, alongside Palou and Newgarden. To win the title, barring Palou retiring from the race, O'Ward would have to earn the bonus point from qualifying for the pole position, win the race, and hope Palou finished no better than thirteenth to not have a tiebreaker scenario come into play. After a controversial qualifying session where he failed to advance to the Firestone Fast Six and qualified eighth, O'Ward was taken out by Ed Jones early in the race and ultimately retired from the race due to a broken driveshaft, effectively ending his championship hopes. He ultimately finished third in the  championship behind Palou and Newgarden. O'Ward secured his first IndyCar track discipline championship when he won the A.J. Foyt Cup as the highest-scoring driver in the series on oval courses in 2021. 2022. O'Ward would return to Arrow McLaren SP in a contract year. He started the season slowly before capturing his first win and first on a permanent road course at the fourth round at Barber. Formula One. McLaren test. Before the 2021 IndyCar Series season, McLaren CEO Zak Brown promised O'Ward a test of the McLaren MCL35M if he could win at least one IndyCar race . O'Ward held up his end of the deal with McLaren after winning the XPEL 375 and Brown subsequently confirmed O'Ward would get the promised F1 test. O'Ward got his first opportunity to drive a Formula One Car on November 14, 2021, when he demonstrated a McLaren MP4/13 at Laguna Seca. Two time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen, who drove the MP4/13 to his first Driver's Championship, was on hand to help familiarize O'Ward with the car. During the run, O'Ward beat his fastest lap time around Laguna Seca in the Dallara DW12 with the UAK18 aero kit by  over a second with the MP4/13. On December 14, 2021, O'Ward tested the MCL35M at the end of the season in Abu Dhabi, where he finished fourth-fastest after completing 92 laps. Despite speculation that the test could lead to O'Ward moving up to Formula 1 upon a strong performance, Brown dismissed those rumors by confirming O'Ward would be back with McLaren in IndyCar for the 2022 season, following McLaren's purchase of 75% ownership stake in Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Brown later stated that the Abu Dhabi test could lead to O'Ward getting additional Formula One tests and even  race weekend practice time, if O'Ward adapts to the car and the tires well, but added that O'Ward would have to win the IndyCar Series championship for McLaren to consider moving him from IndyCar to Formula One. Sports car racing. In 2017, O'Ward competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Performance Tech Motorsports in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class. O'Ward and his co-drivers won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the PC class, making him the youngest driver ever to win both races at 17 years old. He went on to win the  2017 Prototype Challenge drivers championship, alongside James French, and the North American Endurance Cup, alongside French and Kyle Masson. In 2022, O'Ward participated again in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 entry with DragonSpeed, partnered by Colton Herta, Devlin DeFrancesco, and Eric Lux. The team won after an overtake by Herta for first place in the final 11 minutes of the race. Racing record. Career summary. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress. American open-wheel racing results. IndyCar Series. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress. Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance  Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.