Pato O'Ward asks IndyCar to "do what's right" with F1-like engine overhaul

Arrow McLaren's driver Pato O'Ward has reacted to Motorsport reporter Marshall Pruett’s recent Instagram upload. Pruett shared a video of the Mexican driver taking the 1998 McLaren F1 car around the Laguna Seca circuit in 2021.

O'Ward drove the V10-powered McLaren MP4/13 around the 2.238-mile circuit back in 2021. The Mexican was in his second year of contract with the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team and got the opportunity to drive Mika Hakkinen’s car in November. Marshall Pruett uploaded the same run on his Instagram with a caption that read:

“3 minutes of F1 V10 fly bys with Pato O'Ward at Laguna Seca. The trailing sounds around the rest of the track...pure glory.”

The Mexican driver took to the comment section of Pruett's video and reacted to the video and the fans' reaction to it. Many fans hailed the screaming sound of the 3.0L V10 engine and asked the open wheel racing series to bring back these huge displacement engines.

IndyCar currently uses a 2.2L Twin Turbo V6 engine with a hybrid system, but it does not rev as high or sound as good as the V10, or even the V8 engines of the past. Even when F1 moved to a 1.6L V6 Hybrid, the fans slammed the Formula One Management for the same.

Nonetheless, O'Ward asked the IndyCar series to listen to the fans' request and incorporate a high-revving, high-displacement engine. His comment read:

“😭😭😭 @indycar listen to the people and do whats right;)”

Image credits: Instagram/@marshall.pruett

Mika Hakkinen won the 1998 F1 Championship in the McLaren powered by 3.0L Mercedes V10. Pato O'Ward was invited to Laguna Seca as part of the Velocity Invitational event and set a laptime of 01:10:30s.

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Pato O'Ward revealed that the F1 dream has a “deadline”

Pato O'Ward currently fulfills the role of the McLaren F1 team’s reserve driver along with his full-time IndyCar role. The Mexican has been teased with the possibility of getting the F1 seat, but that seems unlikely with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris signing long-term contracts with the team.

INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

Speaking about the F1 dream and the possibility of it becoming a reality, O'Ward said (via The Race):

“I'm at a point in my career where I'm all in, and I've been all in for so long for this opportunity in Formula 1 to come about, but that always has a deadline, it will always have a date where it's just... 'that's enough', because it might never happen.”

“I'm not open to doing it for five more years. I think there's definitely a deadline and that will come sooner rather than later. I'm giving it everything this year and hopefully my opportunities keep on growing,” he added.

The Mexican driver was present at the last few F1 races in 2024 as the IndyCar season had ended, and he traveled with the McLaren F1 team.