Mario Andretti points out Pato O'Ward's glaring error that gave Josef Newgarden his second Indy 500 win

Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward suffered a tremendous heartbreak in the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 last season. It was the second time in three years that the 25-year-old had finished as runner-up in the Greatest Spectacle of Racing, finishing less than half a tenth of a second behind repeat winner Josef Newgarden. In a recent conversation on the ESPN Fans YouTube channel, IndyCar legend Mario Andretti spoke about the mistake that cost O'Ward the race.

The 2024 Indy 500 took place on May 26, 2024, and Pato O'Ward found himself in the lead of the race in the closing laps but was passed by Newgarden's Team Penske Chevrolet just before the finish line. This victory marked Newgarden's second consecutive Indy 500 win and the 20th for Team Penske.

In the final stages, O'Ward and Newgarden exchanged the lead multiple times. On the last lap, O'Ward moved ahead in Turn 1, but Newgarden regained the lead with an outside pass in Turn 3, securing the win by 0.3417 seconds. According to Mario Andretti, Pato O'Ward's turn-1 pass was the major mistake that cost him the race. When asked about O'Ward's chances of winning the Indy 500 this season, Andretti shared:

"His opportunity to win is almost every race he enters, quite honestly. Last year at Indy (500), he was fantastic. I think it was just a matter of, you know, just the right time. I think the one yellow situation was really the defining point, and he just overtook (Josef Newgarden) a little bit too early. He could have waited because that gave Newgarden another shot at it, but he drove brilliantly last year." (30:55 onwards)

O'Ward was understandably devastated after the race, expressing frustration over the narrow defeat. Despite the disappointment, O'Ward acknowledged the unpredictable nature of racing at Indianapolis.

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Josef Newgarden praised Pato O'Ward for his efforts in the Indy 500

While losing any race after being in a winning situation is difficult for racing drivers, the pain of losing the Indy 500 is on another level. When Pato O'Ward got out of the car after the race, he dropped his head on the shoulders of one of his crew members and later admitted that he was indeed crying inside his helmet.

"It was very wet in there, I didn’t want to take it (his helmet) off just yet," O'Ward was quoted as saying by IndyStar. "It’s heartbreaking. Just two corners short... It stings. It’s that close. When you come so close and you just can’t seem to get it right, it’s just a lot of emotion,” O’Ward said. “I know I can win this race."

O'Ward has finished in the top 6 in the Indy 500 in four out of the five times he has competed in the event. Josef Newgarden, who also knows the pain of losing the Indy 500, shared words of praise for Pato O'Ward, as quoted by IndyStar.

"I think he’s a tremendous champion. He could’ve easily won the race himself, he was very capable of that... He’s one of the best competitors we have in this field. He drove like a champion," Newgarden said of O'ward.

This year, Pato O'Ward will once again set his eyes on the prize and will be hoping to finish one place better than he did last year. The 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 25.