Pato O'Ward: Indycar's Driver for the People

Pato O’Ward is a full-time IndyCar driver who drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. Pato is a well-loved driver and person, as many fans credit him with introducing them to the world of IndyCar. Pato has a well-known presence on social media, as he has the second-highest number of followers in the current IndyCar paddock. He and Arrow McLaren’s social media teams know how to effectively market him. It does help that Pato is very charismatic in person and genuinely a great person, as many fans adore him. But the question is, who is Pato O’Ward?

On May 6th, 1999, in Monterrey, Mexico, Patricio or “Pato” O’Ward Junco was born. Eventually, Pato’s family moved when Pato and his sister, Elba, were very young to San Antonio, Texas. At the end of 2005, Pato began his karting career. He won numerous championships across North America, but in 2012, he soon realized that formula cars could help him become a better driver. In 2013, he made the transition to formula cars and competed worldwide.  He competed in Mexico for Formula LATAM F2000, Europe for Formula Renault 1.6 NEC, and the U.S. for Pacific F2000, where he earned a victory. In 2014, O’Ward competed in the French Formula 4 (F4) Championship. He earned ten top-five finishes in 15 races, winning one race and missed the first two events. He finished seventh in the championship. 

In 2015, O’Ward and his father were trying to figure out what was next for the young driver when an opportunity with Team Pelfrey in the Pro Mazda Championship came. This started his road to IndyCar. Pato was the second youngest driver in the Championship, but that did not stop him from shining. In mid-season, he had three straight podium finishes and finished top ten in 14 out of 16 races. He was the recipient of the series’ “Spirit Award,” which is given to a driver or team that embodies the “heart of a champion” as they aspire to reach their goals. O’Ward attended Texas Military Institute back at home in San Antonio, as he planned to keep attending school for as long as he could. O’Ward argues that attending and learning at a Military Institute will help him in the future with his career.

In 2016, O’Ward returned to the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey and finished the season as championship runner-up with 393 points, with seven wins. In 2017, O’Ward competed in a few Indy Lights (now known as Indy NXT) races for Team Pelfrey, where he finished on the podium once, placing third at St. Petersburg. 

In 2018, O’Ward signed with Andretti Autosport to be a full-time competitor in the Indy Lights series. He won nine out of the 17 races, was named Rookie of the Year, and won the Driver’s Championship on the second-to-last race of the season at Portland, beating teammate and runner-up Colton Herta. Two weeks after winning the Indy Lights Driver’s Championship, O’Ward made his debut in IndyCar at Sonoma Raceway with Harding Racing. O’Ward qualified fifth and finished the race ninth, which made history as he tied David Martinez for the best finish on debut by a Mexican driver in American open-wheel racing. 

In 2019, O’Ward was scheduled to move up to IndyCar as a full-time driver for Harding Racing; however, other plans were in place for him. Sponsorship issues led to Pato being released from Harding Racing until March 7th. O’Ward joined Carlin on a part-time deal that had him in the driver’s seat for 13 races in 2019. This led Pato to join the Red Bull Junior Program for young, talented drivers. The number of 13 races was reduced to eight, and things only continued to go downhill as O’Ward had failed to qualify for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 and would not compete again in IndyCar after the Road America race in June. He placed 26th in the final point standings, and his best finish was eighth at Circuit of the Americas. 

The 2019 season of IndyCar was a chaotic disappointment for O’Ward. O’Ward had the opportunity to compete in one race in Formula 2 due to substituting for a banned driver in Austria at the Red Bull Ring. In the full race, he finished 19th, and then in the sprint race, he finished 14th. He also competed in the Super Formula Championship as he replaced a driver mid-season. O’Ward competed in three races, and his best finish was sixth at Okayama. O’Ward was later released early from Red Bull at the end of 2019 due to O’Ward being unable to attain a Super Licence 2020, which is needed to compete in a series like Formula One.

On October 30th, 2019, O’Ward made his return to IndyCar by signing with Arrow McLaren for the 2020 season. O’Ward had a strong start in the 2020 season, as he clinched pole position at Road America and finished second and then at the Iowa GP, he finished fourth. He was in fourth place in the driver’s championship heading into the Indianapolis 500. He finished sixth at the 500 and claimed the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award. He went on to have three more podium finishes and secure fourth in the final championship standings.

O’Ward would continue his INDYCAR career with Arrow McLaren, as in 2021, he would go on to win his first INDYCAR race at the Texas Motor Speedway. More importantly, Pato O’Ward became the first Mexican INDYCAR driver to win a race since Adrian Fernandez at Fontana in 2004. He would go on to win another race and five podium positions. He was close to winning the INDYCAR championship, but after a disappointing qualifying and race at Long Beach. O’Ward finished third in the championship. O’Ward participated in a private F1 test with McLaren post-season at Abu Dhabi. 

In 2022, O’Ward would secure two wins, four podiums and would finish seventh in the championship standings. He also made his competitive F1 debut and did Free Practice one at the Yas Marina Circuit, completing 22 laps. He would also do the same in 2023. In 2023, he would secure seven podiums and finish fourth in the championship. He also obtained his FIA Super license, making him eligible to participate in Formula One. He is currently a reserve driver for McLaren in F1. In 2024, he would secure three wins, six podiums and finish fifth and would also compete at the 2024 F1 Mexican Grand Prix in FP1. Finally, in 2025, he secured two wins, two poles and would finish second in the championship. 

Although O’Ward is an incredible driver, he is also a marketable and charismatic person. The majority of interviews that O’Ward does make him seem like a positive driver with a down-to-earth personality, and more importantly, he puts in time and effort with his fans and INDYCAR fans. He also comes from Mexico, where a lot of people are passionate about their representation in sports, especially in a dominant American racing series. 

As someone who has met Pato in person at the Honda Indy Toronto, Pato was extremely patient with fans and would even interact with them (ask questions, compliment them, etc.) while taking pictures and/or signing items for them. He has this positive aura around him that just makes you want to be friends with or even be around him. Even when things are not going his way, he remains positive, which is inspiring and a role model-like attitude. 

Look at the way Arrow McLaren markets Pato on their Instagram and Twitter accounts. They market him like a likable, charismatic, positive driver and the best part about that, Pato is actually those adjectives. Even through his own Instagram, you can tell that he has legitimate good vibes, and because of those things, Pato has an amazing, large fan base. 

Pato O’Ward is the future of INDYCAR racing, and he knows this. Currently, he is advocating for INDYCAR to race in his home country of Mexico. A lot of fans credit Pato O’Ward and his positive manner, how good a driver he is and other things for getting into INDYCAR. Without Pato, many people would not be paying this much attention to INDYCAR as they are right now. Although Pato is young, he has an incredible role model-like career ahead of him, and many fans cannot wait to see how he grows into it.