McLaren, like the rest of the Formula 1 teams, must also give space to rookie drivers in two Free Practice 1 sessions this season.
The team led by Andrea Stella has decided to play its card at the Mexico City Grand Prix, scheduled for the weekend of October 25-27 in the capital of the Central American nation.
Not a random choice, the one made by McLaren. Pato O’Ward, Mexican driver of the Arrow McLaren team that races in IndyCar, will make his debut at the wheel of one of the two MCL38 in front of his home crowd, taking part in Free Practice 1. It still remains to be defined who will be between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to give way to O’Ward.
The news was released by McLaren with a video posted on their social media pages in which O’Ward himself made the announcement.
“I have some very good news for you. First of all, I will be with the McLaren Formula 1 team at the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, but the even better thing is that this time I will be behind the wheel of an MCL38 in the first free practice session. I can’t wait, it really is a dream come true and even better to do it in front of my fans, my fellow countrymen.”
Pato O’Ward, McLaren
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“I want to thank Zak Brown, Andrea Stella and the entire team for giving me this fantastic opportunity. The car is going really well this year and I can’t wait to do my part and try to help the team for the rest of the season. I’ll be busy with IndyCar this weekend, but then I’ll be back in Europe at the end of this week to prepare for my Formula 1 debut.”
O’Ward has already taken part in several test sessions at the wheel of Formula 1 single-seaters built by McLaren, so this will be his debut in the world championship, but not at the wheel of an open-wheel car in the top series.
This year, the Mexican races in IndyCar with the Arrow McLaren team, in a single-seater powered by Chevrolet engines. He is currently in sixth place overall with 419 points compared to the 525 of Alex Palou, who leads the general standings of the season. O’Ward, realistically, will be able to chase the Top 5 closed by Scott Dixon.
For the Monterrey native, the current season has seen him triumph in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio and in Milwaukee in the first of two races held this year. In total, he has won 7 times in the American open-wheel category and this will be the most successful season of his career. In 2021 and 2022, in fact, he had closed with 2 victories in each season.
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