“I don’t get rattled” - O’Ward’s statement return to Victory Lane
- Archie O’Reilly
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
“People need to chill. It’s just…” he pauses. “The championship is long. There’s plenty of racing to go. I sure as hell am not getting worse.”
There is defiance coursing through Pato O’Ward, beaten-up after a gruelling 90 laps at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course but sitting pridefully beside the day’s prized possession. Silverware, at last. Not that he ever doubted he would be back in its presence before long but a relief nonetheless.
It had been a while. Longer than ever in his IndyCar career, in fact, standing at 14 races without visiting the rostrum in any capacity. In the next fortnight, it would have passed 12 months since his victory on the streets of Toronto, since which the prodigiously talented Mexican had not been afforded a single spray of champagne.
But a driver who has tasted much success in his formative years, he knew it was only a matter of time, even if a greater period than he had ever had to wait before. And even if narratives had started to build and swirl unavoidably around him.
“I don’t really look at all of that,” O’Ward rallies. “I don’t really get rattled. There’s been so much noise, people writing me off already. But the people that actually watch and they actually know what they’re watching, they truly know what’s going on and they really do see that a lot of the times it can be something that’s out of your control.
“Honestly, this year there’s been quite a bit of that. That’s the nature of this sport. It’s not going to be the last time and it’s not going to be the first time. I’ve had plenty of years here where they’ve been up and down, up and down.”
Sitting an untroubled fifth in points, O’Ward’s year had not been catastrophic through its first 10 rounds, by any stretch. Consistency, which was not always a staple of his younger, streakier self, was exemplified with six top-five results in the opening eight rounds.
But for a driver of O’Ward’s calibre and standing, being so devoid of the expected peaks was bound to brew a storm. The errant results of 17th at Barber and 18th on the Indianapolis road course, then 11th at World Wide Technology Raceway and 12th at Road America, have not helped him to kick on from last year’s career-best runner-up championship finish, either.
Road America was a particular cause for frustration, with pace in abundance but cautions ruinous to his efforts, which he held firm belief had him positioned for victory. Starting from the front row at Mid-Ohio, despite any pointers through the year that the Arrow McLaren team is still in a destabilising position of more transformation, that potential was plain to see.
“Coming here, I knew that we were going to be able to do something similar to [Road America] - and we went out there and executed,” O’Ward explains of one of the season’s big shortcomings. “We’ve had performances and [Mid-Ohio] was a textbook showing of execution.
“I want to give it to my guys in the pits; they were phenomenal. This year has been a bit of a challenge and I know they’re working so hard to give me the pit stops that they gave me. I really want to recognise that because they make or break my race. They truly allowed me to fight my way and keep my position as we were fighting on track.
“The cars have been strong all weekend. It was a matter of being perfect.”
O’Ward spent much of the opening half of the race tucked behind pole-sitting teammate Lundgaard after their third front-row lockout in the last two seasons. Through the opening pit cycle, extending by an additional lap, Lundgaard was able to relatively comfortably maintain his lead. But any margin was eradicated once backmarker traffic came into play.
On Lap 42, hemmed behind Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi, with a momentary wide moment for Lundgaard, O’Ward’s opportunity arose. He seized the initiative. Through Turn 4, side-by-side, the outside became the inside for O’Ward in Turn 5.
So close. But never too close. To the point went O’Ward.
“The pace has been so close between Christian and I,” he assesses. “We basically matched each other every single session. I was positioning myself to bounce on an opportunity whenever he would make a mistake so I was banking on that he was going to make one… and he did. That’s what ultimately gave me the opportunity and I took full advantage of it.
“It’s always more fun to do it on track over a pit stop sequence or something. We obviously don’t want to take both cars out. We knew that we were going to race hard and it was either his or mine. I ran a cleaner race.”
It was not routine from there. Traffic continued to factor, which O’Ward was decisive in navigating. Two more pit cycles followed, too, including a stint on the less-favoured alternate tyres. The call to extend that soft-shod, penultimate stint proved a masterstroke, giving O’Ward a three-second buffer to the Lundgaard-led battle for second behind.
That advantage was gradually eaten into but never race-jeopardisingly so. Clear of Lundgaard by 0.9877s at the chequered flag, a return to Victory Lane over 50 weeks-in-waiting beckoned for the No.5 team.
“I wasn’t really worried,” O’Ward reflects of the barren spell. “I’ve been in this business for a long time. I know there’s plenty of other guys that have had many more years than I have, but I’ve got plenty under my belt to understand how things flow.
“[Mid-Ohio] was a simple showing of execution. I knew my win was coming. Whether it was going to be in the last couple races or in the middle, I don’t know. But obviously I made it happen. It’s just nice to put ourselves in a position to keep on climbing, keep on building on this great momentum that we’ve had.
“Because I do feel like some good results have run away from us - just from little details. I really want to thank my guys for giving me an amazing race car and in the pits.”
Now 27 years old and in his eighth season as an IndyCar driver - the seventh of his tenure with Arrow McLaren - O’Ward is aware of his responsibility as a leader. But he is not burdened by that, instead only driven further to rally his troops and, with his own dedication to his craft, give his team the greatest chance of succeeding.
And undoubtedly enhanced by the streak of time without any tangible success, he has come to realise the value of making the most of the good days on track.
“It’s up to us, being the quarterback of my little No.5 car team, to try and lead and really maximise what our potential can be,” he says. “I keep working hard. I obviously enjoy my life outside of racing as well, which is very important. And along with that, you’ve got to enjoy it with your guys. You have to. You never know when it’s your last time - your last win together.
“It’s so important to do that because that’s truly why we do this. We do this to win and to compete, but what makes it so much sweeter is actually the people that we get to share it with after making these strong relationships within the team. Papaya is a second family and they will remain to be. I always try and give the best I’ve got.
“There’s not once where Tony [Kanaan, team principal] has come to me and he’s like: ‘I need you to try harder.’ Because I know he knows exactly how much I expect from myself and how perfect I want to be. And that’s how I do everything: jobs, investments. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing.”
Even with the Mid-Ohio win marking his first podium of 2026, a tally of now seven top-five finishes - only three shy of last year’s total with seven races remaining - means O’Ward remains fifth in the standings. He is not yet discouraged by the 94-point deficit to Palou, nor the 38 points to Kyle Kirkwood, 29 points to Lundgaard or 28 points to David Malukas.
“The most important part was everybody was writing me off: ‘Oh, what a horrible year.’ I’m still fifth in the championship and this is my first podium,” he acknowledges. “Rack up two or three more [wins] and I’m fighting for the championship. I still am.
“It’s doable. And if it’s not first in the championship, a repeat of a second would be great. It’s not the end of the world. We’re obviously still working hard. We’re still getting better. We’re all trying to put these pieces together to make this team stronger as a whole. It’s about making everything as strong as possible. There’s plenty of opportunities left.”
A championship crown included, O’Ward is still in pursuit of IndyCar’s biggest prizes, after also suffering multiple Indianapolis 500 heartbreaks. But no matter how people may judge the troughs that naturally come with the peaks of a career in sport, especially for those setting the highest bars, O’Ward’s belief in himself and his abilities has never wavered.
“This is why I’m here. The reality is I’ve really strived for perfection from my side every single race weekend. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to be clean. I want to be smart. I want to put the car and pick my battles.
“I really feel like I’m driving better than ever. I don’t think the results this year have really shown how I feel inside of the race car because [of] one thing or another. But the most important thing in this business is you need to be comfortable and confident of what you can do and about what you can control.
“Sometimes you can’t control everything. Sometimes you will do everything perfectly and things won’t work out. But I don’t think it’s a reason to lose motivation, lose hunger. I know it was just a matter of time for things to click - or at least not go against us.
“Obviously it’s sometimes on the extremes. You might have horrible luck or you might have insane luck. We haven’t had that insane luck yet so maybe we do - and it would be nice to keep racking up some more. But it’s just great to get this first win of the season.”
On a weekend where Arrow McLaren dominated the off-track news cycle for major alterations to their lineup for 2027 - Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist replacing Nolan Siegel and, incredibly, Lundgaard - O’Ward has delivered a necessary statement on-track.
It may be all-change around him, but he remains steadfast on his own path to glory with the team he has risen with from its foundations.
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