Pato O’Ward has extended his contract with McLaren’s Indycar outfit, the Arrow McLaren SP, in what many believe is a warning sign to their F1 driver Daniel Riccardo.
Ricciardo has not delivered the results hoped for in Formula One with McLaren boss Zack Brown recently bringing the issue to the fold.
McLaren extending O’Ward’s contract ahead of Sunday’s Indy 500 through the end of 2025 seems to link to the issue as the deal includes some F1 testing for the 23-year-old Mexican and a new McLaren sports car as a signing-on bonus.
Riccardo has managed just single points finish in six F1 races this season and had another nightmare start to Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix by crashing in Friday’s practice.
He has easily been outdueled by his teammate Lando Norris from the start who has shown better pace with Riccardo himself admitting that he still does not feel in complete control of the new car.
The newer upgrades have failed to change his fortunes during the races as well.
The Australian is under contract through 2023 but Brown said there are “mechanisms” in place that could impact negotiations.
“We’ve got both our drivers under contract so nothing imminent but we’re starting a testing program bringing a couple of drivers in and Pato is definitely going to be one of those,” said Brown, who is in Indianapolis where Arrow McLaren will have three cars in Sunday’s race.
“I don’t want to get into the contract but there are mechanisms which we’re committed to each other and then there are mechanisms which we’re not.
“I spoke to Daniel about it. We’re not getting the results we hoped for but we’re both going to continue to push.
“I think he showed at Monza he can win races. We also need to continue to develop our race car. It is not capable of winning races but we’d like to see him further up the grid.”
Pato O’Ward has collected three wins, four poles, and nine podiums since signing on with Arrow McLaren in 2020.
The Mexican has set himself a deadline of two years to realize his F1 dream which matches up nicely with his McLaren deal.
