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.”

Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

Autosport 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."

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

He added: “We've already addressed any of the rumours 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.”

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.”