Pato O'Ward unleashes fury on Detroit GP circuit after his 'worst performance in IndyCar’

Arrow McLaren star Pato O'Ward came out after the 2025 IndyCar Detroit GP and shared his clear opinion on his dislike towards the street circuit. The Mexican driver reflected on his race weekend and suggested that it was the worst performance in IndyCar despite finishing in the Top 10.

The Detroit GP is held at the 1.6-mile street circuit built on Jefferson Avenue and the river walk next to the Detroit River. The circuit is compact, twisty and bumpy in nature, which leads to a lot of action, crashes and cautions during the race.

However, the same also makes the circuit not that enjoyable for the drivers to drive. It is essentially a circuit with a long back straight and nine 90⁰ slow-speed corners. The bumpy nature also unsettles the cars into heavy braking zones, leading to lock-ups and deep moments into the barrier.

The 2025 Detroit GP was another race plagued with cautions and red flags. Pato O'Ward spoke with FOX after the race in Detroit and suggested that it was the worst performance from the #5 Arrow McLaren as he qualified outside the Top 10 in P18.

O'Ward suggested that the Arrow McLaren didn't have pace around the Detroit circuit as he reflected on his race weekend. The Mexican IndyCar driver went on to slam the Detroit GP as he said:

“It's been the worst performance weekend I've probably ever had in IndyCar. We legit qualified 18 just on pure pace. We've had others the times where we've been back there, but it's always been because of an issue or made a mistake here and there, but this one was truly that's where we deserve to be.

“It's been a very frustrating weekend. You guys know, I don't sugarcoat it, I hate this place. It sucks. It's a horrible track. I really miss Belle Isle. You get to really appreciate what an IndyCar can do in Belle Isle. Here, you're just Mickey mousing around the whole time. It's just been very challenging. So I'm glad that it's over.”

Pato O'Ward, despite the poor qualifying, managed to get himself up into the Top 10 and finished P7. The Mexican detailed how he was happy to have scored points on a weekend that started poorly with the qualifying.

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Pato O'Ward's 2025 IndyCar Detroit GP analyzed

Pato O'Ward began the race weekend with P7 in the first practice. However, the Mexican failed to make the Top 10 in the second practice. During the qualifying, the Arrow McLaren driver fell at the first hurdle when he was eliminated in the first round and started the race in P18.

O'Ward mostly had an anonymous race, as he slowly made his way up the grid through overtakes and the pit stop strategy. The flurry of cautions and retirements further helped O'Ward's case as he finished P7.

The only real bit of screen time for Pato O'Ward was when he led the race for three laps after the leaders pitted for fresh tires.