Pato O'Ward tipped for historic St. Petersburg GP victory from P23 by IndyCar insider

IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward had a day to forget at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg qualifying as the Arrow McLaren driver was eliminated in the first session. The Mexican driver will start the race from P23 on Sunday. However, IndyCar insider Bob Pockrass has come out and tipped O’Ward to win the first race of the 2025 IndyCar season.

Motorsport reporter Bob Pockrass attends the season opening IndyCar race at St. Pete, which happens to be the first IndyCar race he's attended over seven races. Pockrass is usually at the NASCAR races, but with FOX taking over the exclusive broadcasting rights for IndyCar, the reporter took to Florida.

Before the qualifying session, Bob Pockrass on the Bear Bets podcast suggested that he's tipping Pato O'Ward to win the race at St. Pete. The motorsports reporter said,

“So I think that Pato is going to win. He has three podiums with top three finishes here at St. Pete. He does have a win in his career obviously last year and I think he'll actually get it done on the track instead of finishing second and then getting the trophy like six weeks later.”

However, the Mexican driver failed to qualify anywhere near the Top 10. Pato O'Ward was put in Group 1 for the first qualifying session (based on the final Practice result), and the Arrow McLaren driver ended outside the Top 6 from the group.

Nonetheless, with the race just a few hours away, Bob Pockrass tweeted and suggested that he still backed O'Ward for the win despite the poor qualifying result. The tweet read,

“My INDYCAR pick today St. Pete: Pato O'Ward to win .. O'Ward McLaughlin Newgarden Herta Palou .. longshot: Lundgaard.”

“I know Pato wasn't good in qualifying. He's been my pick all week so not going back on it,” he added.

The Mexican driver wasn't content with his qualifying effort and was clueless when asked about the reason behind the poor run in the first session.

“I don't have an explanation” - Pato O'Ward details the poor qualifying run at St. Petersburg GP

Pato O'Ward looked uncomfortable throughout the first session, as his Arrow McLaren ride was all over the place. Firestone brought the green sidewalled alternate tires for the street circuit, which reportedly are operating differently compared to the previous year.

The Arrow McLaren driver was caught out with the tires not responding to his inputs. Pato O'Ward spoke with Jamie Little after the qualifying session as he said, (via FOX broadcast)

“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. 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 teammates, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel, will start the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg P5 and P11, respectively.