"He still thinks he's a racing driver": Pato O'Ward strongly supports Arrow McLaren TP Tony Kanaan's mentality

Pato O'Ward has given a glimpse into what it feels like working under Arrow McLaren's new Team Principal (TP) Tony Kanaan. The British team promoted Kanaan to the leading position a few weeks before the 2025 season began, having made him deputy team principal in November last year when then-TP Gavin Ward left the team.

IndyCar is currently in Thermal, California, for the inaugural Thermal Club GP. In a press conference after practice session 1 on Friday, O'Ward, who emerged sixth-fastest out of 27 drivers, was asked about his relationship with new boss Tony Kanaan.

"How am I finding TK? Race car driver mentality. He still thinks he's a racing driver," the Mexican driver said via ASAP Sports.

When further asked if that was good or bad for the team, O'Ward elaborated on the benefits of the driver mentality.

"I think it's good. I think it drives everybody forward. Obviously, always has a good spirit, lots of energy. But so far, I think it's been good. Obviously, there's been also additions to leadership, as well. So it's obviously taken some time to kind of all mold together, but I think we're headed in the right direction," he added.

As an IndyCar driver, Kanaan won both of the top prizes the premier American series has to offer - a title in 2004 and an Indy 500 victory in 2013. Along with his promotion to Team Principal, Kevin Thimjon was named President of Arrow McLaren.

In practice 2 on Saturday, O'Ward finished one place up in P5, while new teammate Christian Lundgaard topped the session with a lap time of 1:40.642.

Pato O'Ward shares unfiltered 'cheese grater' take on Thermal Club's IndyCar circuit

Pato O'Ward's No. 5 Honda at IndyCar's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

Pato O'Ward, like all other drivers, found the Thermal Club circuit to be a menace to the tires. The new 17-turn, 3.067-mile track has a lower grip than many of IndyCar's older circuits, with the Firestone tires degrading rapidly.

After practice 1, O'Ward bluntly called it a "cheese grater" to highlight the extreme tire degradation challenge that teams will face during the 65-lap race on Sunday.

"Ooh, it's still a cheese grater," he said when asked about the tires. "We just need to look at the data, really. I think it was a bit different for each of our cars. But yeah, the common denominator is that the DEG is going to be big. I would see it like an Iowa -- like an old Iowa kind of thing, I would say, but I can't road course. Hard to pinpoint it."

The Thermal Club circuit hosted a non-championship 20-lap race in 2024 called the $1 million challenge, that Alex Palou won after leading all laps. However, there were no pit stops or race strategy involved in that shorter format.

O'Ward was the biggest mover at IndyCar's first race of 2025 in St. Petersburg. He started the race in P23 after failing to get the new green tires in the right window in qualifying. However, the No. 5 Arrow McLaren driver aced an unusual four-stop strategy to gain 12 places and finish in P11.