Racing
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McLaren Formula 1 reserve driver and IndyCar front-runner Pato O’Ward said he now has "zero desire" to race in F1 because he believes the series’ 2026 direction has made the racing too artificial.
Speaking to FOX Deportes, O’Ward said his long-held ambition to reach grand prix racing has faded not because of prestige, money or a lack of opportunity, but because the cars no longer represent what drew him to the category in the first place. “What the series has done has been a mistake,” he said. “The hunger I had to get into Formula 1 was not because of fame or money. It was because the cars were something impressive; driving those cars was something impressive.”
His criticism focused on the way F1’s next rules cycle places greater emphasis on electrical deployment and energy management. The 2026 package is built around a 50/50 split between electrical and combustion power, with battery harvesting and electronic overtaking boosts becoming central to how the cars are driven. O’Ward said that runs against what he wants from a race car.
He said drivers should be attacking braking zones and fast corners, “and not that the car automatically slows down at the end of the straight.” He also took aim at the overtaking tools that come with that approach. “You don't want to be flipping a switch to say, ‘Oh, I'm going to press it to pass him artificially.’ It's not Mario Kart; we're racing here. Honestly, I have zero desire to be part of that.”
O’Ward drew a clear contrast with IndyCar, where he said the appeal remains the racing itself. “I feel that right now, today, this is the best series for a driver who wants to race, here, in IndyCar,” he said. “Formula 1 right now is an artificial show, and honestly, I have zero desire for it. It doesn't grab my attention.”
The comments carry extra weight because O’Ward is not speaking from a distance. He has spent four seasons tied to McLaren as a reserve and test driver, has taken part in at least five F1 practice appearances, and continues to work with the team while racing in IndyCar for Arrow McLaren. One summary of his recent record described him as the 2025 IndyCar runner-up, underlining that he is giving up on F1 from a position of strength rather than retreat.
That makes his stance a pointed criticism of where F1 is heading. O’Ward is still inside the McLaren system, but his focus has shifted fully back to the United States because the version of Formula 1 he once wanted no longer matches the kind of racing he wants to do.