Indy 500 pressure makes Pato O'Ward make "very guilty" confession

Pato O'Ward is one of the revered figures in the IndyCar paddock and has battled challenges over the years in his pursuit to win the Indy 500. Opening up on his guilty confession on how he used to feel bad about rejecting people's requests back in the day, the Mexican explained how learning how to say no has been a tough but a crucial part of becoming a mature driver.

The 26-year-old made his debut in 2018 but rose through the ranks and earned a seat at Arrow McLaren by the 2020 season. O'Ward was on pace and made inroads towards the top of the championship ladder.

However, his ambition to win the Indy 500 has remained quite stale. Despite coming close to winning the fabled event, Pato O'Ward hasn't taken the chequered flag at the 500 miles.

Amid such failures, the Mexican driver has developed mentally and has grown his own stance in the paddock on various matters. Revealing how saying no without any remorse has taken him a long time, O'Ward said (via Frontstretch Open Wheel):

"Learning how to say no. I can't tell you the amount of people that just they reach out and they're like 'I want this, I want that' and it's like well it's not that easy, and just learning how to say no and not feeling bad about it." (0:40 onwards)

"I would say I used to feel very guilty of saying no, but I don't feel bad about it at all because the day that you win this race you're going to thank all the noes because otherwise you just have enough mental capacity. That battery will die down sooner or later and there's only so much battery for so much activity."

The 26-year-old will be competing in his sixth Indy 500 this year.

---

Pato O'Ward goes candid on the paddock's expectations of him performing well at the Indy 500

Pato O'Ward at the Formula 1 Testing In Abu Dhabi - Source: Getty

Pato O'Ward has claimed two second-place finishes in his last three attempts. While the 2024 result saw him break down inside the No. 5 cockpit, the paddock reckons the Arrow McLaren driver is one of the biggest contenders for the race.

However, O'Ward doesn't believe last year's results mean anything in this year's context (via IndyCar):

"To be honest, just because you did well the previous year doesn't mean you're going to do well the next year."

Pato O'Ward stands fifth in the interim IndyCar championship standings. But this year has been different, as Christian Lundgaard has been the lead Arrow McLaren driver and leads the seven-time race winner by two points in the standings.