Pato O'Ward has 'no explanation' for shocking St. Petersburg qualifying knockout

Pato O'Ward got shockingly knocked out in the first part of qualifying on Saturday for IndyCar's 2025 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The Arrow McLaren driver, who was the winner at this circuit last year, finished 12th among the 13 drivers in Group 1.

O'Ward's fastest lap time of 01:00.3671 around the 1.8-mile bumpy street circuit was nowhere close to getting in the Top 6 and advancing to the next round. The Mexican driver was half-a-second slower than Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus Veekay, who secured the final position in the Top 6, also knocking out birthday boy Will Power, who was hoping for pole position as his birthday gift.

After getting out of his car, Pato O'Ward spoke with FOX pit lane reporter Jamie Little about the disappointing qualifying session. He explained how the team wasn't able to get the new green tires in the right zone for a fast lap. However, he had no more information to elaborate on.

"I just couldn't the green tires switched on. We had two opportunities and it was... I don't have an explanation for you really," he said. "It was just a really tough lap to get together and obviously, it's not ideal for tomorrow. But we'll have our work cut out for us. We'll see if we can make our way and get some solid points tomorrow."

O'Ward's P12 finish in Group 1 means he will start 23rd on the grid on Sunday for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This is in sharp contrast to his 2024 qualifying result, which was a strong P3 behind pole-sitter Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist.

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Arrow McLaren's promise for the St. Petersburg GP after Pato O'Ward's qualifying disappointment

INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Day 2 - Source: Getty

Pato O'Ward was surprisingly just over five-tenths behind new teammate Christian Lundgaard and seven-tenths off of rookie teammate Nolan Siegel, who only has half a season of experience behind him.

The No. 5 driver had finished fifth in practice session one on Friday and eighth in practice session 2 on Saturday. However, the alternate (green) tires got the better of him when it counted. It is ironic considering how Scott Dixon and other IndyCar drivers claimed that the green tires kicked in immediately to provide the fastest lap times.

After O'Ward's premature qualifying exit at St. Petersburg, Arrow McLaren put out an X post promising to fight their way up in the race on Sunday. The post read:

"Pato does not advance, will start P23 in tomorrow's race. We'll fight forward from there, team."

Pato O'Ward had won the 2024 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after race winner Josef Newgarden was stripped of the victory for illegal use of the push-to-pass system. Ahead of practice session 2 on Saturday, O'Ward admitted that getting the win in that manner, six weeks after the race concluded, was disappointing.