Pato O'Ward gets real about Indy 500 heartbreak - "A can had opened that keeps getting heavier"

Indy 500 is regarded by many as more important than winning the IndyCar championship, and Pato O'Ward is yet to claim either of them. However, he came close to achieving a victory at the Indy 500 but lost it by a few meters at the 2024 iteration of the race. Talking to IndyCar President Doug Boles, O'Ward revealed how mentally taxing the losses around the IMS have been.

The Mexican driver made his debut in 2018 and soon earned fame in the racing world. He then switched to Arrow McLaren in 2020 and has been the lead driver for the American-English team since then.

The 25-year-old has seven wins under his belt but has been unable to emerge victorious around the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pato O'Ward led the most laps at the 2023 Indy 500 and has finished second on the road twice at the elusive event (2022 and 2024).

The 2024 iteration of the Grand Prix was a major heartbreak for the Mexican driver as he had snatched the lead away from Josef Newgarden heading into turn one. However, he lost the lead two corners later and met with the unfortunate fate yet again.

Reflecting on the near-misses he has had with the race, Pato O'Ward said, via Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

"Oh man I think about it a lot. I have very memorable moments, good and bad of all of my Indy 500s. It was definitely a lot of emotions kind of hitting at that moment, but it was just, you know a can that had been opened, that obviously just keeps getting heavier and heavier and heavier every year when you just you haven't quite gotten it."

Since the end of the 2024 IndyCar season, O'Ward has driven for McLaren in F1 sessions multiple times and has participated in a test session with the team in Jerez, Spain on February 12.

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Pato O'Ward's F1 dreams are dwindling right before his eyes

Pato O'Ward at the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Practice - Source: Getty

While the 25-year-old has put in hundreds of miles for McLaren's F1 team, the Woking-based outfit has a stable driver lineup in the form of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. This has made his dream of joining the F1 sphere a distant one.

Moreover, O'Ward is aware of this and made an analogy with a buffet on his affair with the F1 world, and said, via The Race:

"It's quite tough because it's like going to a buffet, not being able to eat - everyone else is eating and enjoying and you're just there; you don't get to do what you love to do, and you get to watch other people do it. It's definitely not my favourite thing in the world.

"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."

The 2025 IndyCar season will start on March 2, at St. Petersburg, a race where Pato O'Ward emerged victorious last time around.