Pato O'Ward

Pato O'Ward
O'Ward at Road America in 2021
Nationality	Mexican
Born	Patricio O'Ward Junco (1999-05-06) 6 May 1999 (age 22) Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
IndyCar Series career
36 races run over 4 years
Team(s)	No. 5 (Arrow McLaren SP)
Best finish	4th (2020 IndyCar Series)
First race	2018 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma (Sonoma)
Last race	2021 Grand Prix of Portland (Portland)
First win	2021 XPEL 375 (Texas)
Last win	2021 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race 2 (Detroit)
Wins Podiums Poles 2 9 4
Statistics current as of May 3, 2021
Previous series
2019 2017-18 2017 2016 2016 2015-16 2015-16 2014 2013 2013 2013	Super Formula Indy Lights WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Pro Mazda Championship IMSA Mazda Prototype Lites - L1 NACAM Formula 4 Championship Pro Mazda Championship French F4 Championship Latam Fórmula 2000 Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Pacific Formula F2000
Championship titles
2018 2017	Indy Lights WTSC PC
Awards
2020	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
.

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.

Junior and sports car career[]

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O'Ward exiting the pits during qualifying at Sonoma in 2018, where he qualified fifth in his IndyCar debut

Born to Patricio O'Ward and Elba Junco in Monterrey, Mexico, he attended school in San Antonio, Texas.^[1] He is of Irish descent.^[2] He 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 débuted in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey. Once again in 2016, O'Ward competed in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey. In 2017, O'Ward competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Performance Tech Motorsports in the PC class. O'Ward and his co-drivers won the 2017 Rolex 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. O'Ward and his team went on to win the 2017 Championship and North American Endurance Cup (NAEC)

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 easily captured the drivers championship.

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 Formula 2 round, substituting for the banned Mahaveer Raghunathan, and was announced as Dan Ticktum's replacement in the Super Formula Championship.^[3][4][5]

Due to a decision by the FIA to award fewer Superlicense points for O'Ward's Indy Lights Series championship, O'Ward would be unable to attain the required points to be able to race Formula One in 2020, and thus would not be retained by Red Bull past 2019. With IndyCar series rides available, Dr. Helmut Marko granted O'Ward an early release from his contract after three Super Formula rounds.^[6]

IndyCar Series[]

2018[]

Two weeks after clinching the Indy Lights 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 ties him with David Martínez for the best finish on debut by a Mexican driver in American open-wheel racing.^[7]

2019[]

For 2019, O'Ward was scheduled to move up to the IndyCar Series full-time, piloting the #8 entry for Harding Steinbrenner Racing.^[8] However, sponsorship issues led to O'Ward being granted his release from the team on February 11, 2019.^[9]

On March 7, O'Ward joined Carlin on a part-time deal that will see him drive in 13 races in the 2019 IndyCar season. O'Ward will drive Carlin's second entry for 12 races and will also drive Carlin's third entry for the Indianapolis 500.^[10] 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. O'Wards Red Bull deal signed in the Month of May also saw him only compete in 8 of the 13 events he originally signed for. He would be credited with 26th in the final points standings, with the best finish of 8th, at 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.^[11]

2020[]

O’Ward would have a strong start to 2020, posting finishes of 2nd at Road America race II, and 4th at Iowa race I. He held 4th in the overall points standings heading into the Indy 500 (held in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic). O'Ward would go on to finish 6th in his first Indianapolis 500 start and won the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award for his performance.^[12] He followed that up with consecutive podium finishes in the doubleheader at World Wide Technology Raceway.^[13]

O'Ward held as high as 3rd in the standings before finishes of 9th and 11th at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and 22nd at Harvest GP race I dropped him to 5th. After signing a new deal with AMSP,^[14] He finished 2nd in the season finale at St. Petersburg and take 4th in the final championship standings.^{[citation needed]}

2021[]

O'Ward has continued racing at AMSP the next season, partnering Felix Rosenqvist. O'Ward continued his progression as a driver and emerged as a title contender in 2021. He started the season off by earning his first 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 Texas Motor Speedway and took his maiden IndyCar victory in the second race the following day.^[15][16] He became the first Mexican driver to win an IndyCar race since Adrian Fernandez did so in 2004 and the first Chevrolet driver not from Team Penske to win a race since 2016.

After taking his first win O'Ward would never fall lower than third in the championship standings, consistently fending off series champions Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon while hounding Alex Palou for much of the season. He picked up a second win at the second race in Detroit, his first win on a street course, and secured additional podium finishes at Race One in Detroit and at Gateway along with two additional pole positions at Race One in Detroit and Race Two on the IMS Road Course.^[17]

Formula One[]

Before the 2021 IndyCar Series season started McLaren boss Zak Brown promised O'Ward that he would get a test of the current McLaren Formula One car if he could win at least one IndyCar race.^[18] 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.^[19] He will test the car as part of a tire compound test by F1 tire supplier Pirelli at the end of the season in Abu Dhabi. 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.^[20]

Racing record[]

Career summary[]

* Season still in progress.

American open-wheel racing results[]

Pro Mazda Championship[]

Indy Lights[]

IndyCar Series[]

(key)

* Season still in progress.

Indianapolis 500[]

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship[]

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete Super Formula results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Pato O'Ward career summary at DriverDB.com