Pato O'Ward makes his feelings known on FP1 participation in his home country

Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward recently opened up about his participation in Free Practice one at the Mexican Grand Prix, which will take place later this year in October. The Mexican will be driving for the McLaren Formula One team as part of his reserve driver duties.

On Thursday, May 8, it was announced that the 26-year-old will be driving in Mexico City during free practice 1 at the GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 2025. O'Ward highlighted how he felt driving in front of his home country before, saying (via IndyCar on Instagram):

"It's crazy, man. I mean, they yeah, made me feel like I was Brad Pitt in Mexico City, so I'm excited to go back and you know, seeing the fans and that's really the only opportunity that I have to race in front of my home country, so hopefully soon we'll have some info and news on IndyCar side that will be racing there."

Pato O'Ward has time and again voiced his support for an IndyCar race in his home country of Mexico. The Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles once made comments as to how O'Ward, along with IndyCar series, is not famous enough to get a race in Mexico. However, the Mexican driver received support from his former teammates as well as rivals when it came to this matter.

As for Pato O'Ward's 2025 season, it is off to a decent start; he qualified in 23rd spot during the maiden race of the season at the Firestone Grand Prix of St.Petersburg on March 2 and finished the race in 11th spot. During the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on May 4, O'Ward qualified for the race in eighth spot and finished the race in sixth place.

The Arrow McLaren driver is currently gearing up for the upcoming Sansio Grand Prix, which will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, May 10.

Pato O'Ward expresses his feelings about the Arrow McLaren cars 'plowing like pigs'

Pato O'Ward recently opened up about the issues with the Arrow McLaren car. The hybrid system was introduced last season at the Mid-Ohio Grand Prix in July. Some drivers have been struggling to find the right balance with the car, with one of them being O'Ward. The new hybrid system adds 100 pounds to the car, making it a little challenging to drive.

While in conversation with Autoweek, he spoke about how the cars 'plow like pigs' and he highlighted the issues he faces with it.

“You used to have them a lot on the edge without the hybrid, but with all this weight in the rear, they just plow like pigs, really. It's a bit of a shame, because they feel like they can go a lot faster. But we can't really get them there to that edge where maybe I have put it in the past," the Arrow McLaren driver said.

The 26-year-old shared how the changes made to the car made him change his driving style.

"The problem now is with this hybrid, we've got so much more weight, and the car is a lot lazier, and it just can't do that anymore. It's been a bit of an adjustment, because I've had to change my driving style, I would say. Or the approach to how you extract lap time from the car is very different now, because you can't have it strong at the front. It's a snowball effect,” he added.

Pato O'Ward is fourth in the drivers' standings with 108 points, 88 points adrift of leader Alex Palou.