O’Ward: Racing has taken a big step down with IndyCar hybrid

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward believes the hybrid unit introduced midway through the IndyCar season has impacted the series' racing product. 

The hybrid unit was a collaborative effort between IndyCar, Chevrolet and Honda, and paired the 2.2-litre, twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engine with an electrical low-voltage motor generator unit and a 320 kilojoules-per-lap energy storage system.

The first-of-its-kind unit operates at a maximum of 12,000rpm and allows the driver to deploy and harvest energy for up to an additional 60bhp and, when combined with push-to-pass on road courses and street circuits, the output combines to over 120bhp extra, bringing the total to more than 800hp.

There have been five races since the hybrid technology made its race weekend debut at Mid-Ohio in early July, in an event that was won by O’Ward. 

Giving his views on the unit after first practice in Portland, O'Ward said: “I would say even in Mid-Ohio, it's a simple system.

“You can push to pass. Instead of using the boost from the engine, it's using it from the battery pack.

Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Photo by: Perry Nelson / Motorsport Images

“I would say it hasn't been a massive change in terms of what we need to do in the car. Obviously there's more times we need to click this button. I think it's been more of a factor for the racing.

“I think the racing has taken a big step down just looking in Mid-Ohio [and] Toronto. People don't need to use their push to pass anymore to defend sometimes. That's ultimately just led to fewer fights on track. At least that's what I feel.”

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, who was third in the first session at Portland, added: “It's much like a push-to-pass system.

"If you didn't know any better, it's just more power at the push of your finger. It's not too complex.

“I would say it's more of a defence mechanism than an attack if I'm honest.

“For example at Gateway, whenever I felt like I had a bad exit from a corner, I would be able to save myself from being overtaken just by deploying all of my battery. That's almost a comforting thing with your racing.”