Pato O'Ward gets real on his Thermal Club troubles stemming from scorching temperatures

Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward finished the Thermal Club Grand Prix in second place on Sunday, March 23. The Mexican driver discussed the scorching temperatures that led to overheating of the Energy Recovery System (ERS).

The 25-year-old qualified with pole position on Saturday, March 22. However, he finished the race in second place after being overtaken by three-time champion Alex Palou during the final 15 laps of the 65-lap race. While speaking to Marshall Pruett from RACER, O'Ward discussed why he avoided using the ERS due to the scorching temperatures.

“Yeah, for 50 percent of the race I couldn’t use the thing. Just overheats. Obviously, here it’s probably one of the most helpful areas where the hybrid is of good use, because of those very stop-and-go corners and long straightaways,” O'Ward said.

The ERS was worth 0.3 seconds per lap and having it available would have helped Pato O'Ward keep Alex Palou behind him for a bit longer. However, due to the different strategies in play, it wouldn't last long.

“In race trim, if you’re asking me if I would have won that race if I didn’t have those issues, the answer is still no,” O'ward added.

Along with the scorching temperatures, the number of blockers used also played a huge role. The blockers help regulate the engine's temperature to keep it running in optimal condition. The blockers also impact the ERS cooling, and this is where Arrow McLaren and Chip Ganassi Racing deflected.

Arrow McLaren chose to risk overheating the ERS. The race did not have any caution flags which would have otherwise helped Pato O'Ward cool down the car a little.

Pato O'Ward's strategist Nick Snyder explained how the blockers affected their race.

“It was nothing intentional on our side. In hindsight, we probably should have adjusted our blocker configuration a little bit. Certainly didn’t go into the race expecting to have any issues, but this is the hottest, longest we’ve ever run, and IndyCar bumped up the energy limits for this event, which was great. We were totally fine in qualifying, but just the long run in the race with no cautions, we had a little heat soak there and just ended up on the high side of temps," Snyder said.

Despite these issues, Pato O'Ward led 51 of the first 55 laps. The second-place finish was a redemption for O'Ward and the car #5 team after a disappointing start to the season at St. Petersburg.

Pato O'Ward calls out Chevrolet-powered IndyCar teams

Pato O'Ward finished the Thermal Club Grand Prix in second place. He was stuck behind lapped traffic towards the end of the race while trying to battle Alex Palou for the race win.

Initially, Palou was nine seconds behind O'Ward but the new tires along with Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Louis Foster aided in gaining nearly three seconds in the battle. Annoyed by this, O'Ward commented on how the Honda-powered cars help their rivals while the Chevrolet-powered cars remain selfish.

O'Ward said in the post-race press conference:

"I mean, I hate to whine about it, but it sucks to be the leader. All of our Chevy affiliate teams are worthless with helping when a Chevy leader is coming up on them. Honda seem to work as a team very, very well because Foster was doing everything in his power to keep me behind. Palou gets right behind him, and he just lets him cruise by... that just makes it a bit more of an annoyance rather than a joy."

Pato O'Ward had other issues that added to his annoyance in the 65-lap race.