{"id":25637,"date":"2024-10-23T12:30:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T16:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=25637"},"modified":"2024-10-23T12:53:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T16:53:53","slug":"owards-career-and-rise-to-indy-stardom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/10\/23\/owards-career-and-rise-to-indy-stardom\/","title":{"rendered":"Pato Who?: O’Ward’s Career and Rise to Stardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans will see a different but familiar face during F1\u2019s FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix as IndyCar star Pato O\u2019Ward takes the wheel of the MCL38 in front of his hometown fans.<\/h3>\n

Pato O\u2019Ward\u2019s career hasn\u2019t always been smooth sailing, especially in the early days but that clearly didn’t stop him as he gets to live out a childhood dream. A look at his career so far between both series might answer why he is one of the top NTT IndyCar Series drivers on the grid and how O’Ward’s appearance in the <\/span>Mexico GP was a long time coming.<\/p>\n

What should\u2019ve been<\/h2>\n

O\u2019Ward\u2019s career could\u2019ve looked completely different if a controversial decision from the FIA hadn\u2019t been made.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2018, O’Ward signed with Andretti Autosport to compete in the Indy Lights championship. Winning nine out of 17 races, O\u2019Ward won the drivers championship at the second-last race of the season in Portland, beating runner-up, and fellow IndyCar driver Colton Herta.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following year, he continued to make a huge step toward making his dream of making it to Formula 1 a reality by joining the Red Bull Junior Team. He managed to get in a race at Red Bull Ring in Formula 2 and three races of the Super Formula Championship as a replacement for other drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was right there but a ruling by the FIA to allocate fewer Super License<\/a> points for O’Ward’s victory in the Indy Lights championship hindered his ability to secure the 40 necessary points to compete in Formula One in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow McLaren\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

His release from Red Bull made him available for an IndyCar series ride with Arrow McLaren<\/a> in 2020.\u00a0<\/span>And as they say the rest is history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the contract, O\u2019Ward had appeared in eight IndyCar races, one in 2018 and eight in 2019, with two different teams. But this was his first opportunity for a full-time spot and boy did he take advantage of that. In his first full season he managed a pole, six top-5\u2019s and 10 top-10s finishing fourth in the championship standings with 416 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

And he\u2019s only gotten better.<\/span><\/p>\n

O’Ward emerged as a title contender that following year. He earned his maiden IndyCar victory in the second race at the Texas Motor Speedway. He became the first Mexican driver to win an IndyCar race since Adrian Fernandez in 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n