Carlin says his new IndyCar signing O'Ward is as good as Norris

Indy Lights champion O'Ward has secured 13 IndyCar races with Carlin, having terminated his contract with Harding Steinbrenner Racing when he discovered it only had the funding to run him for the three races he earned via his Lights title.

Carlin had a part-time vacancy as Charlie Kimball is only contesting five races, and it moved swiftly to sign O'Ward for the other 12 rounds plus the Indianapolis 500 in a third car.

The fact O'Ward had beaten Colton Herta to the Lights title impressed Carlin, as he rates Herta from fielding him in Euroformula Open, BRDC British Formula 3 and MSA Formula (now British F4).

During that spell Herta had two seasons alongside Norris, who Carlin ran for the majority of his junior single-seater career.

"Part of the history with Carlin is we specialise in working with young drivers," explained Carlin.

"I saw last year the fantastic battle with Patricio and Colton Herta. Colton is an ex-Carlin driver from Europe. He had a young team-mate, a kid called Lando Norris. I saw Colton and Lando fighting tooth and nail.

"I said in 2015, 'Lando Norris will become a Formula 1 driver and Colton Herta will be an IndyCar driver'. That's happened.

"In the meantime, I've seen Patricio beat Colton. To my mind, it's a really simple analogy. Patricio is as good as Colton and Lando and is going to be a future champion. I'm super excited."

O'Ward starred on his IndyCar debut with Harding in last year's season finale, qualifying fifth and finishing ninth.

Carlin's best result of its IndyCar debut season last year with fifth in Toronto with Kimball.

"Twelve months ago we were just about to enter our first ever IndyCar race," Carlin said.

"We'd only had a second car for a week! Nobody in our team had done IndyCar before.

"What we haven't had is results. To get results, it's a package and part of that package is the drivers.

"We've done a load of testing with RC Enerson, who showed us there's more potential in the car. Of course, then what happens? Our current drivers Max [Chilton] and Charlie lift their game. The whole thing is starting to spiral upwards.

"We're very pleased. Our next target is podiums, then we can get regular podiums, we'll fight for that elusive first win."

O'Ward said he was "really excited, really happy" to have secured a drive with Carlin. His first race will be round two at Austin in a fortnight.

"They've proven to be winners. They know the formula, they know how to win," he said.

"That's what we're here for. Someone that is in this sport to be in the back isn't here for the right reason.

"I think I've landed exactly where I need to be.

"It's just a matter of time before we start winning, we start getting poles, start getting podiums."