Pato O’Ward ‘happy to be back’ ahead of the 2025 IndyCar season
Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward talked about the upcoming season at IndyCar Content Days on Tuesday
The 2025 IndyCar Series starts in early March with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. But the upcoming season rolled out on Tuesday morning, with the IndyCar Content Days in Indianapolis. Over the next two days, drivers will meet with the media, to share their thoughts on the upcoming season and set the stage for a new year of IndyCar action.
Perhaps there is no better table-setter than Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren.
O’Ward has become one of the more popular drivers in the series, with his infectious energy matched by the pace he brings to the track. O’Ward has seven IndyCar wins on his resume, including a career-best three a season ago.
“I’m happy to be here,” said O’Ward to the media, including SB Nation, Tuesday morning when asked about his IndyCar offseason.
“It’s been a lot of traveling. I’ve done a lot of hours from [the IndyCar season-ending race in] Nashville all the way to December 20th, I think, was my kind of first day off. So I haven’t had a lot of chance to kind of chill out, but I will have some time at the end of the month, which the team has been very courteous and, and generous in giving me a couple weeks off.
O’Ward was able to pivot from his IndyCar duties with Arrow McLaren to his duties as a reserve driver with the McLaren Formula 1 team, from driving in FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix to being with the team as they secured the F1 Constructors’ Championship last season.
“I did a lot of traveling with the Formula One team obviously. It was really cool to be part of their Constructors’ Championship and seeing that, but [along with] FP1 in Mexico, yeah, it feels like a whole year’s worth happened in three months since Nashville.
“It’s been great, but definitely happy to be back.”
IndyCar enters a new era this season, as the sport moves to a new broadcast partner with FOX Sports. The network began promoting their upcoming coverage this past weekend during NFL Wild Card weekend with a commercial featuring Josef Newgarden, the winner of the two previous installments of the Indianapolis 500. That ad also features the newest member of FOX Sports’ NFL coverage team, former quarterback Tom Brady.
O’Ward was asked about that partnership, as well as an upcoming FOX Sports commercial where he is featured.
“I want to publicly state that I think what Fox and IndyCar are doing is freaking phenomenal, like the commercial that just came out with Josef. I think it was so well done,” said O’Ward on Tuesday. “It’s fun. It’s edgy. It’s, you know, it’s flirting with that line where people do get engaged and you’re like, ‘hey, this is, this is different.’
“I have filmed mine. I have not seen it. I don’t know when it’s coming out. I would say it felt like I was doing a movie shoot. I think it’s gonna be a really cool commercial,” continued the Arrow McLaren driver. “I think you guys are gonna enjoy it when you see it, so I can’t wait for that and I’m just excited to see what they come up with during the year.
O’Ward also praised the network for their approach to the sport.
“They really seem to be, first of all, on it, and secondly, they know what works, and I think that’s gonna be probably one of the best decisions IndyCar has ever done.”
The driver was then asked about his 2024 campaign, which saw him post three victories, but finish fifth in the Drivers’ Championship. O’Ward described his 2024 campaign as “inconsistent” as he looked back at the previous year.
“Inconsistent, I would say, performance-wise. Good days were great, bad days were horrible,” began O’Ward.
“It just seems to be the name of the game for us the last few years because I just don’t think we’re at the level where we need to be yet in terms of reliability. I’ve still made my fair share of mistakes. There hasn’t been one thing that it’s like, ‘[h]ey, let’s just fix that.’ And it’s not as simple because you go to these places and you’re so on the edge because if you’re not on the edge, you’re 20th.”
As for how he and Arrow McLaren can improve in the year ahead, O’Ward pointed to the development of the racecar as a big key for the team.
“I mean, first off, development in the performance of the race car. I do think now that there wasn’t a lot of hybrid testing, we’ve actually had a chance to hopefully find some some good things to improve in areas where we’re lacking the most,” said O’Ward.
“It’s never gonna be perfect.
“It’s not gonna be how you always want it to be. But you have to be as close to perfect as you can if you want to be a champion. You have to be as close to perfect in an Indy 500 in order to win that race.
“And all it takes is just making sure that you’re well prepared for the challenges that are coming ahead.”
O’Ward noted that he has taken a page from McLaren F1 Team Principal Andrea Stella, and is embracing how pressure is a privilege in the world of motorsports.
“Taking a page out of Andrea’s book. When you think about it, I think it’s such a privilege to be in such a high-pressure situation because that means you’re doing something well, and that’s what we’re gonna try and do.”
This off-season has also seen significant changes at Arrow McLaren. Gavin Ward departed the team, with former driver Tony Kanaan stepping in as Team Principal. Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard are the two drivers alongside O’Ward this year, making O’Ward the veteran of the team.
The driver addressed those changes on Tuesday morning.
“My job is to drive a race car, you know, and try and kind of help lead the team in terms of where we need to go, engineering-wise,” said O’Ward. “But I think Tony is as qualified as anybody to be leading this group of people. Yes, he was a racing driver and he still says he’s a racing driver — but I’d call him retired — he has knowledge, experience of everything. He can dip his toes into marketing and communications. He can dip in toes with all the partners. He can dip in with his opinions with the drivers, especially like with Nolan, that he’s coming into to the team.”
“I know [Siegel] did a couple of races last year, but I think he will be a very good mentor for him as I’m trying to be.”
“I’ve always been the baby of the team, but now I’m the old guy, and I want them to succeed as well, because them succeeding means that’s just going to drive me forward and make me better. And when we’ve got two or three cars, you know, fighting, it’s very different to fight having [just] one car fighting at the front.
“I trust with the decisions that have been made and, you know, I told [McLaren CEO Zak Brown] I’m completely behind everything that has been done, and I’m always up to take on something else if there is an area that needs a little bit of attention and help.”
Tuesday’s conversation ended with a discussion on IndyCar’s future. The sport is looking to add two races to the calendar for the 2026 season, with a stop in Mexico among those being considered. Asked about a potential race in Mexico, O’Ward spoke highly of the idea.
“People are gonna be pumped. I’m gonna be pumped. I hope all of you are gonna be pumped because it’s gonna be a great event. It’s gonna be the best event on the calendar outside of the Indy 500,” began O’Ward.
“I know there’s there’s talks going on. I know it’s quite more advanced than it’s ever been. I really hope we see it on the calendar in 2026. I mean, I feel pretty involved in that. I will be very involved. I want to be very involved. I want to make sure it’s a success.
“It’s the perfect market for IndyCar to go and just, really, experience what that aficionado, that fan can bring to the table because it’s such a special group of people. I would say just such a special community that really embraces, you know, not just IndyCar back in the day, but Formula One, Formula E, anybody that’s there. They always make it, you know, feel so welcomed and special and I know they’re gonna do just that for us.”