Pato O’Ward believes he can apply the lessons learned during his Formula 1 test last month to his upcoming IndyCar campaign.
As a reward for his first IndyCar wins last year, the Arrow McLaren SP driver took part in the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi in December and impressed McLaren with his pace. Ahead of his third appearance at the Rolex 24 this weekend, O’Ward believes his recent experience can help him advance into his full-time season.
“Certainly I can just apply things I’ve learned in Formula 1 to adapt and try new things,” O’Ward told RACER. “I think experimenting with different things at IndyCar and improving where I might have weaknesses is something that will make us all better.
“Does it spoil (driving an F1 car)? No, because I’m still very hungry, firstly to win an IndyCar championship, secondly to win an Indy 500 – which we came quite close to last year. So we’ll try again and see what we can do. But just in terms of grip and skills, yes, a lot. Over the course of an F1 spec circuit, it’s a solid 12/13 seconds faster; That is much.”
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The 22-year-old went into the finals of the 2021 IndyCar season with an outside shot at the championship. In return, he feels he is providing whatever McLaren can ask of him at the moment, which is something he hopes to that it will lead to more F1 testing opportunities.
“I think I’ve certainly excelled at IndyCar where we are right now in terms of the package and I think we’re just going to get better, so that’s good,” he said. “I think I’ve done quite a bit more than was asked of me, so all I can do is do that and just wait – wait and see where my future takes me!” At the end of the day I’m just really grateful for the opportunity and just hoping for another chance to try again.”
