‘Special’ F1 reserve driver has the wrong driving style to race in Formula 1

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McLaren reserve driver Pato O’Ward is undeniably fast, but there’s a worry that his driving style might not be best suited to Formula 1.

Speaking on The Rice F1 Podcast, journalists Scott Mitchell-Malm and Glenn Freeman were discussing the 24-year-old Mexican.

The end of the Formula 1 season saw plenty of rookies and youngsters get some much-needed track time.

Free Practice 1 in Abu Dhabi saw half the grid replaced with reserve and test drivers.

Lando Norris gave up his McLaren to Pato O’Ward for an hour of track time on the Yas Marina circuit.

O’Ward ended up finishing 15^th in that session although because each driver was running different settings and had different objectives, it’s hard to read too much into his position.

The 24-year-old has been fantastic in IndyCar over the past few years and earned a promotion to reserve team driver for 2024.

However, there are concerns that O’Ward’s driving style might not necessarily suit Formula 1.

The differences between F1 and every other series are huge, with Formula E champion Jake Dennis needing to pit after just one lap during that Abu Dhabi practice session because his helmet wasn’t tight enough.

That shows the demands that the car puts on the drivers but also the way the car needs to be driven is completely different.

Ultimately, that might cost the Mexican a chance to break into F1, although anyone would struggle to break into the McLaren team right now given how impressive Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been this year.

O’Ward driving style might not suit Formula 1

Asked if there’s any chance of O’Ward getting onto the F1 grid, Mitchell-Malm said: “I’d like to see it because I think it would be one of those crossovers that’s just generally very, very entertaining.

“And I think O’Ward is the kind of driver that if you got him in an F1 car that allowed him to do what makes him just quite a special talent in IndyCar if you had proper fast hands O’Ward in an F1 car that would be quite special.

“I’m a little bit wary that you can’t really drive an F1 car like that.

Glenn Freeman added: “Fast hands O’Ward would be slow in an F1 car, unfortunately.”

Mitchell-Malm replied: “Yeah, exactly. He’s talked about how he thinks he’ll be able to drive an F1 car the way it needs to be driven so it’s not really about whether he could become a competitive F1 driver necessarily.

“I think if he became a competitive F1 driver it wouldn’t be for the reasons why he’s so exciting to watch in IndyCar. It’ll be because he’s a good driver and he adapts to the machine that he has.

“I’d like to see if for the reasons I just mentioned, but I’m struggling to imagine it.”

O’Ward latest in a long list of drivers struggling to break into Formula 1

The 24-year-old has admitted he’ll work until the day he dies to break into the sport.

O’Ward will know he will be required to tweak his driving style whenever he gets into a Formula 1 car, but those opportunities will be few and far between.

He’s not at the top of the list of drivers outside of the sport that teams will be considering to potentially fill an empty seat.

His connection with McLaren means he’s only realistically going to be handed a chance by the Woking-based team.

While Norris has been linked with a move away from McLaren, they’re also desperate to tie him down to a new contract.

They also handed Piastri a new deal this year, making O’Ward’s F1 chances look very unlikely right now.