McLaren's Pato O'Ward and Denzel Perryman star in latest collab

Arrow McLaren star Pato O'Ward took on the reaction game Catch the Baton alongside NFL star Denzel Perryman. The two shared a few laughs as they traversed through the intricate yet fun nature of the game.

Athletes require fast reaction times. Moreover, minimal reaction times can be deemed essential for racing drivers, where even a loss of a millisecond could become the difference between winning and losing.

Drivers often play games that help them sharpen their senses to reduce their reaction times in racing. Catch the Baton is one such game, in which drivers must maintain a neutral stance and catch the falling baton (selected at random) before it touches the ground.

A collaboration between IndyCar and the Los Angeles Chargers saw Pato O'Ward and Denzel Perryman go head-to-head. While the Mexican driver achieved a respectable 5/6 score, the NFL star couldn't get on top of the game in his first try. However, his second attempt was much better and matched O'Ward's score:

O'Ward sits second in the championship standings after finishing P2 at the last event in Thermal Club.

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Pato O'Ward hopes to keep the momentum going at the Long Beach Grand Prix

Pato O'Ward at the INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

After a mediocre St. Petersburg Grand Prix weekend, Pato O'Ward turned his fortunes around and claimed the pole position for the Thermal Club Grand Prix. He led 51 laps of the newly added race but couldn't claim the victory as Alex Palou charged past him in the final phase of the race.

Despite the disappointing loss, his strong result meant he climbed up to second in the championship table. With the Arrow McLaren outfit having momentum on their side, O'Ward hopes for a similarly better race weekend, and said (via McLaren):

"Long Beach is a unique place for us because it has so much cool history, but it hasn't been kind to us the last couple years. I think we've worked hard to address some of those issues from the past, so hopefully we can roll off strong next week and keep the momentum we got from Thermal."

Meanwhile, with his never-give-up attitude in the initial phase of the season so far, the Mexican driver is also hoping to complete every Grand Prix lap of the season. The 25-year-old had said before the start of the 2025 campaign (via McLaren):

"Finishing every lap of every race is an underrated and difficult thing to do. Over the last few years, we’ve had a lot of DNFs. It’s a real bad day when you have one of those. It’s so important to finish every race. I’ve been close to a championship before, but I feel like if we accomplish that goal of finishing every lap, that will get us into a really good position."

Pato O'Ward must overcome a 39-point deficit in the championship standings to leapfrog Palou.