Anthony Davidson says ‘exciting’ rookie was getting ‘a bit lairy’ during FP1 in Abu Dhabi

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Anthony Davidson admitted that McLaren reserve driver Pato O’Ward looks like an exciting talent, but had one scary moment in Free Practice 1 in Abu Dhabi.

Davidson was part of the commentary team on Sky Sports F1 during the first session of the final weekend of the season.

The first practice session of the weekend was a unique one with half of the grid made up of drivers not currently on the grid.

It was a rare opportunity for plenty of young drivers – and several older racers such as Jake Dennis – to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car.

Each driver would have had a set objective from their team about what they should be doing during the practice session.

It wouldn’t have necessarily been about delivering the fastest lap possible with data needed for the race weekend and a tyre allocation to look after.

However, the likes of Pato O’Ward would have wanted to impress McLaren during his hour on track and Anthony Davidson is excited about the prospect of the Mexican being involved in F1.

It was confirmed yesterday that O’Ward would be one of the team’s official reserve drivers next year.

After another strong season in IndyCar, the 24-year-old will be pushing to get onto the F1 grid soon, but with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ahead of him in the pecking order, that will be easier said than done.

Davidson excited about O’Ward in Abu Dhabi

Pushing into the last corner of the track, the Mexican got a bit out of shape before crossing the finish line and said: “Oh, and you can see there [Pato] O’Ward getting a bit lairy on the exit of the final corner, turn 16.

“There’s some really exciting drivers out there and he is definitely one of those exciting drivers and he’ll be absolutely loving this.”

O’Ward finished the session in 15^th place, just over a second behind George Russell who was at the top of the timing screens.

Oscar Piastri for context finished in sixth but it’s hard to read too much into the results without knowing what the team asked of each driver.

O’Ward wasn’t the only driver caught out going around the final corner in Abu Dhabi with Davidson wondering if there was a crosswind at that part of the track.

The 24-year-old will now hope he gets more opportunities in 2024 to test the car in free practice session having become an official reserve driver.

As mentioned above, it’s hard to see where a spot might open up for him in the team.

However, his presence will slightly amp up the pressure on Norris and Piastri going forward.