O’Ward open to future with or without McLaren in IndyCar or F1

Although AMSP ace O’Ward was thrilled by his F1 test with McLaren in Abu Dhabi and the team was said to be impressed by his performance, it was announced last week that McLaren F1 has signed fellow IndyCar ace Colton Herta to its test program.

O’Ward, although stating that he is firmly focused on IndyCar for this year and professing his love of working for the Arrow McLaren SP squad, admitted today, “My group of people is just scouting out what my future is going to look like…

“I think we're all going to have to wait and see what that answer is, to be honest with you. I don't want to lie to you. I don't want to lie to everybody and say, ‘No, no, no,’ or, ‘Yes, yes, yes’. We'll see how things shape out. I think it's too early in the season to truly see what's happening.

“Honestly, as of right now, like I said, I'm fully focused into delivering a season that I know I'm capable of with the team that is around me. I'm sure things will start taking their place, yeah.”

O’Ward, clearly hesitating before responding to the line of questioning from motorsport media, said that he “knew a couple weeks back” of Herta’s signing, and quizzed on whether he might still get another F1 test with McLaren, replied “As of now, I'm not aware that I'm part of that.”

NBC Sports attempted to clarify O’Ward’s situation, asking if he is allowed to talk to other teams, given that his current AMSP contract is due to run to the end of 2023.

“I am currently under contract with McLaren,” said O’Ward. “Just like anything, there are scenarios that I could stay where I'm at or there could be scenarios where I could be in a different place.

“You'd be allowed to solicit other offers, and McLaren could probably match it – Is that where it stands?” pressed NBC.

O’Ward smiled, paused, and then said: “Oh, man, you're good… Bingo!”

Motorsport.com asked O’Ward if his IndyCar prospects depended on being with a team that boosted his chances of reaching F1, and whether it would be difficult to find a team that is prepared to sign him while knowing he could leave as soon as an F1 opportunity presented itself.

“I think it's not a secret, right? This passion that I have for motorsports, it started with Formula 1,” he replied. “Of course, I'd be interested to be in Formula 1. But if the right opportunity arises and if I was able to extract the extra things that Formula 1 offers you as a professional, as an individual.

“I love IndyCar. I love IndyCar racing. I think the series is on a constant rise. I think it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger. My job right now is to try and help in getting it bigger, specifically in the Latin market. I think we've done a good job so far but I think it can still grow a lot.

“What I think people need to understand is, yes, I get it, Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsports. In terms of competition there is nothing harder than IndyCar because everything is closer to each other. We'll see how F1 unravels [sic] with the new regulations this year, all that stuff.

“There's very limited seats. Many of the times, as we've seen in other forms of motorsports, it's not about ‘Can you do it?’ but ‘Is there a seat available? Is there someone that wants to put you in that seat?’

“Honestly, it's a lot of the things that I can't really control. What I can control is trying to position myself in a place where I can see a future, in a place where my best chances, whether it's in IndyCar or in Formula 1. Right now, to be fairly honest, IndyCar is where I'm at. I need to see what my best positioning is for what I want to achieve. Everybody in the sport wants to achieve the exact same thing, right? We want to win championships, races, 500s.

“Like I've mentioned many times, I love the people that I get to work with at Arrow McLaren SP, great group of people, really smart people, people that I know that believe in me, believe that me driving the #5 car, the car that they have built, the car they have set up, they know every time I go in it's always going to be more than 100 percent. I will extract everything that it has to offer.

“When we make a mistake, it's together. It takes a team to win championships and to win races. It's not just the driver. I think for me right now, I really don't know what's in store for me. I feel like a lot of things can shift.

“As quick as it might come, it can go away. It's a moving puzzle in a way. So I think right now the most important thing for me is to focus on my season and kind of let everything else fall into their place, see what comes of it.

“I truly am kind of in the same place you guys are at. There's just a lot of noise right now. I want to do a great season for the team that has been behind me for these past couple years. I think we've had a great 2020. We had an even better 2021. I want to raise the bar even again for 2022.”

Michael Andretti, Mario Andretti, and Zak Brown, Executive Director, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Michael Andretti are good friends, and there are rumors that Brown is running Herta in the McLaren F1 car as a favor to Andretti, ahead of Andretti Global entering Formula 1 in 2024 with Herta as its driver. Asked by Motorsport.com if this were the case, whether that would persuade O’Ward to remain McLaren affiliated and thereby determine his future, O’Ward replied: “No. Just like anything, you need to look at what the best is…

“The next decisions I take in my career are one of the most important. I need to make sure that I'm doing what's best for me and what makes me feel happiest. I think that's just as honest as I can be with it.

“It's not like, ‘I want to be here… No, I want to be here!’ Just like anybody in any sport, you need to look at where is this going to take me, where do I want to be, and just start putting your puzzle together, start checking off the objectives of ‘I want to do this – check, I want to do this – check, I succeeded in this – check, we haven't done this – let's work on that.’

“Just like any other athlete in motorsports or in any other sport you need to be very careful and you need to be very aware of what's going on and make the best decisions that will put you into what he want to achieve.

Team president Taylor Kiel described the situation as “a blip on the radar.”

He went on, “We've already addressed any of the rumors or otherwise with the team internally. I've got full confidence that everybody is focused and ready to perform at Texas. That's really what's important to me, that we're ready to go. Everybody is here to win, everybody is here to do the job.

“Certainly internally we're in a good place. I think that's really all that matters to me. The external noise, everything that surrounds situations like this – it is what it is, it's part of the sport. It's on us to make sure we have our house in order. When news needs to come out, it comes out from us and we go from there.”

Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O'Ward on the McLaren pit wall

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Regarding the desire to retain the services of O’Ward, who finished fifth in the 2020 IndyCar championship and third in 2021, Kiel said it was an “absolute no-brainer,” because O’Ward is “extremely talented.” But he pointed out too that the team has played a major part in their success together.

“He's done a fantastic job for us. The team has done a fantastic job for him, right? The fact he's been able to put himself in a position to compete for championships is a function of Pato's talent but also a function of the team, right? We're growing together. We are ticking these boxes together. We won on ovals, street circuits. We will win on road courses. We will compete and fight for championships together.

“In my opinion, there's nobody I'd rather have driving one of our race cars than Pato O'Ward. I think he's an absolute world class talent. We've invested a lot in each other. But Pato is young. He's got a lot of interest right now, as you would imagine. I think everyone in the paddock would be silly if they're not trying to at least have the conversation. I get it. It's part of the business.

“It's a lot of pressure for him. It's a lot of pressure for us. It's a lot of pressure for our team. All we can do right now is focus on each other, internalize everything, make sure we keep the noise to a minimum, work through our business and make sure we're on solid foundations putting our foot forward. I have no doubt together we can be unbeatable and we'll get there…

“This isn't the best thing that's ever happened to us as an organization, no doubt. Ultimately it will strengthen us and bring us together. As a team we're galvanized, strong, focused. I'm ready to get on with it, go to Texas and show everybody what we can do.”