Pato O'Ward has one-word reaction to his old IndyCar promo picture on IG

Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward recently took to his Instagram story to react to a picture of him from the older Indy 500 archives. The image was captured during a promotional photoshoot ahead of the 2019 Indianapolis 500 race.

25-year-old IndyCar driver Patricio O'Ward remains one of the brightest talents on the grid without a championship. The Mexican, who signed for Arrow McLaren ahead of the 2020 campaign, already has seven wins to his name in five full seasons.

Beyond his craft on the race track, Pato O'Ward also remains an active user on social media platforms. The 25-year-old has acquired over 770K followers on his Instagram handle, showcasing his popularity among the fans.

O'Ward recently took to his Instagram story, where he reacted to a picture of himself from his late teens, when the Mexican was still a fresh name on the grid. The post in question, was shared by Indianapolis Motor Speedway's official photographer, Chris Owens, and featured pictures of multiple IndyCar drivers ahead of the 2019 Indy 500.

The post read:

"At this past IndyCar Media Day, @josefnewgarden mentioned how he remembered when the standard white backdrop studio was all we had. I laughed and told him it took me everything I had just to make that happen back then. It got me thinking, how funny would it be to look back at some old studio photos. Let me know who is your favourite!"

Reacting to his own photo as a teenager in 2019 standing in front of the white backdrop, Pato O'Ward captioned his story:

"omg"

Pato O'Ward's Instagram story

O'Ward, the reigning Indy NXT champion at the time, was set to make his Indy 500 debut that season. However, he failed to qualify for the main event driving for the now-defunct Carlin.

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What are Pato O'Ward's goals for the 2025 campaign?

Ahead of the 2025 season, O'Ward, who is also set to serve as McLaren F1's reserve driver, spoke about his plans for the new IndyCar campaign. Having finished fifth in the last campaign despite three wins to his name, the Mexican driver aims to right his wrongs and secure a better finish in the championship standings.

Speaking to The Race in a recent interview, O'Ward revealed:

"I want to finish every race, that is my goal. I know it seems like a very simple goal, but it's a lot harder to do. I just want to keep it simple. I want to look back on the year and be like, 'Wow, we finished every lap'. I think that's a pretty big accomplishment, and that usually delivers in terms of sitting pretty in the championships."

O'Ward also acknowledged the need to improve on his qualifying performances this year:

"I'd like to have a better qualifying year than I did last year. I think last year was just one of the worst years for qualifying for me."

Pato O'Ward will hit the race track on March 2 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg. The Mexican driver would aim to hit the ground running from the get-go, similar to last season.