Arrow-McLaren star Pato O'Ward calls out IndyCar change that’s brought “zero benefit”

Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward has slammed IndyCar's hybrid system that was brought into the sport in 2024. Last week's Indy 500 (May 25) was the first major event that was run with hybrid power, and in line with this, O'Ward has claimed the system has brought 'zero benefit'.

The Mexican started the 2025 Indy 500 from third place and also ended the event in the same position. Having the experience of the 200-lap race for the first time with hybrid power in the back of his car, he was not too pleased.

O'Ward had an interaction with Racer, where he added the following:

"The reason why we keep seeing the restarts being so... I don't even think 'chaotic' reaches the right wording for what we've seen. But, just so desperate is because of the fact that that is your only chance to get multiple positions."

Via a specific part of the interaction, the Arrow McLaren driver further added:

"And by strategy, just having maybe like an overcut. That's how you saw (Ryan) Hunter-Reay, (Marcus) Ericsson, make their way up while (Conor) Daly was slowing the whole field down, fuel saving. I feel like, in all honesty, the hybrid has brought zero benefit to the series in every way, shape and form."

The 2025 Indy 500 had quite a few drivers finding themselves in the wall for one reason or the other. Amid all the chaos, Alex Palou won the race with AJ Foyt Racing's David Malukas coming in second and Pato O'Ward ending up in third position (as mentioned earlier).

Pato O'Ward's take on the 2025 Detroit Grand Prix

After the first six rounds of the 2025 IndyCar season, Pato O'Ward finds himself in second place in the drivers' standings. However, he is way behind the championship leader, Alex Palou. The former has only managed 194 points in comparison to Palou's 306.

With the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix slated to take place on the upcoming Sunday (June 1), O'Ward is looking forward to it. In line with this, he had an interaction with Arrow McLaren, where he stated:

"We’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to score big starting this weekend in Detroit. We’d love nothing more than to put a Chevrolet on the top step here in their backyard."

Following the Indy 500, there are still 11 events remaining on the 2025 IndyCar calendar. Taking into consideration the huge gap that Pato O'Ward has to Alex Palou in the standings, the upcoming race around the streets of Detroit circuit will be extremely crucial for O'Ward.

Moreover, he would also hope for Palou to have an extremely timid weekend in order to make a significant jump on him in the standings.