Pato O'Ward seals another F1 opportunity months after Mexico GP stint

Pato O'Ward has secured an opportunity with the McLaren F1 team to participate in the annual postseason Young Driver Test. The IndyCar driver joined the British outfit's F1 roster as a reserve driver before the 2024 season and marked his appearance at the Mexico GP on October 27.

The Mexican driver has been driving in the IndyCar for Arrow McLaren since he joined the organization in 2020. He concluded his fifth NTT IndyCar Series season with three wins, six top-fives, and ranked fifth. The 25-year-old is currently observing his off-season.

Amid O'Ward's break from IndyCar, McLaren announced it tapped the driver for the upcoming Young Driver Test on December 10. Additionally, the team will field Ryo Hirakawa, who will debut in the Free Practice 1 during the Abu Dhabi GP weekend.

Hirakawa has been selected under a sporting regulation mandate wherein teams should allow two rookie drivers in two Free Practice sessions. Pato O'Ward was the first driver after he ran the Free Practice 1 in the Mexico GP.

Hirakawa will drive the MCL38 in a 60-minute session during the race weekend while his Mexican McLaren teammate will display his skills after the penultimate race wraps.

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When Pato O'Ward heaped praise on "so enjoyable" F1 car after the postseason test in 2023

A postseason test is performed to extract maximum information from the car before wrapping things up. It typically includes drivers from F2 who are looking for the highly coveted F1 seat. So, it's a great way for teams to gather data and deduce which driver they could bank on the next season.

Even though Pato O'Ward is a dominant IndyCar driver, his F1 experience is limited to Free Practice sessions. But after taming the McLaren's F1 car at the Yas Marina Circuit last year, he sang praise about how well he could control the car, especially through the corners (via F1):

"I feel on top of the car, I can make it do what I wanted to do. The way you're gonna attack the corners, it's just so enjoyable these cars. They're so quick and they're so capable that it's an absolute joy. Getting to feel what the limits of the car are and you have to go through these, you have to feel them."

"It's good to watch the data, the lines, but you really don't learn it until you actually go out and feel it," Pato O'Ward added.

While an IndyCar looks similar to an F1 car, both differ significantly. An IndyCar can notch a higher top speed but an F1 car can steer faster through corners. An F1 car is nearly 100 lbs heavier than IndyCar but still takes around four seconds to clock 200 mph, almost half the IndyCar's acceleration time, among other differences.