Patricio O'Ward

O'Ward exiting the pits during qualifying at Sonoma in 2018, where he qualified fifth in his IndyCar debut.

He began his racing career in karting at the end of 2005 and remained in karting until 2012. During 2013, O'Ward competed in open-wheel racing, in Latam Fórmula 2000, Formula Renault 1.6 NEC and Pacific Formula F2000. In 2014, O'Ward competed in French F4 Championship.

In 2015, O'Ward débuted in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey. Once again in 2016, O'Ward competed in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey. In 2017, O'Ward competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Performance Tech Motorsports in the PC class. O'Ward and his co-drivers won the 2017 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the PC class, making him the youngest driver to ever win both races at 17 years old. O'Ward and his team went on to win the 2017 Championship and North American Endurance Cup (NAEC)

In 2018, O'Ward signed with Andretti Autosport to compete in the Indy Lights Championship. He won nine of the 17 races, was named Rookie of the Year and easily captured the drivers championship. Two weeks after clinching the Indy Lights title, O'Ward made his IndyCar Series debut at Sonoma Raceway in a second Harding Racing entry, where he qualifyed fifth and finished ninth (which ties him with David Martínez for the best finish on debut by a Mexican driver in a premiere open-wheel series[1]).

For 2019, O'Ward was scheduled to move up to the IndyCar Series full-time, piloting the #8 entry for Harding Steinbrenner Racing.[2] However, sponsorship issues led to O'Ward being granted his release from the team on February 11, 2019.[3]

On March 7, O'Ward joined Carlin on a part-time deal that will see him drive in 13 races in the 2019 IndyCar season. O'Ward will drive Carlin's second entry for 12 races and will also drive Carlin's third entry for the Indianapolis 500.[4] In May, O'Ward was signed to the Red Bull Junior Team and the following month, was placed on a one-event deal to compete at the Red Bull Ring Formula 2 round, substituting for the banned Mahaveer Raghunathan, and was announced as Dan Ticktum's replacement in the Super Formula Championship.[5][6][7]

Due to a decision by the FIA to award fewer Superlicense points for O'Ward's Indy Lights Series championship, O'Ward would be unable to attain the required points to be able to race Formula One in 2020, and thus would not be retained by Red Bull past 2019. With IndyCar series rides available, Dr. Helmut Marko granted O'Ward an early release from his contract after 3 Super Formula rounds. [8]

On October 30, it was announced that O'Ward has returned to IndyCar by signing a deal with Arrow McLaren SP for the 2020 season.[9]

O’Ward finished 12th in the first round of the 2020 IndyCar Series season at Texas Motor Speedway.

• Official website
• Patricio O'Ward career summary at DriverDB.com