The Mexican pilot has experienced a true “roller coaster” of emotions these days. Pato O’Ward, who after an unfortunate performance in the Long Beach race, where he finished in 16th place, woke up this Wednesday with the news that he had been the winner of the March 10 race at the start of the 2024 season of the IndyCar series.
IndyCar announced penalties for Team Penske for breaking the rules at the St. Petersburg, Florida, Grand Prix, including the disqualification of Josef Newgarden, who originally won that race ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.
The 24-year-old man born in Monterrey receives this unexpected “post-dated” victory three days after he made a serious mistake when he caused a collision at the start of the Long Beach race by hitting his teammate Alexander Rossi. Pato O’Ward himself admitted his failure in a conversation with La Opinión, feeling bad for his team and the fans who came out in large numbers to support him.
Team Penske cheated by pressing the wrong button
According to IndyCar, Team Penske manipulated a passing system known as “Push to Pass” in St. Petersburg, for which Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from that racein addition to Will Power receiving a 10-point penalty.
According to IndyCar, the violation of the regulations by Team Penske was suspected during the warm-up for the Long Beach Grand Prix this April 21, that is, 42 days after the St. Petersburg race.
After an investigation, it was concluded that “Team Penske manipulated the passing system so that cars No. 2, 3 and 12 had the ability to use the ‘Push to Pass’ at starts and restarts (of the race). In accordance with IndyCar regulations, the use of passing is not available during championship races until the car reaches the alternate start/finish line.”
IndyCar determined that Penske cars 2 and 3 gained a competitive advantage by using the system in restarts of the aforementioned race in Florida.
The “Push to Pass” system consists of two green buttons found on the car’s steering wheel. When any of them are tightened, the car gains extra power with activation of the turbochargers. But the use of the system is not indiscriminate.
Officially, O’Ward was first in St. Petersburg, Will Power second and Colton Herta third. And in the general standings, the Mexican is in fourth place, 15 points behind leader Scott Dixon, the winner in Long Beach.
It is O’Ward’s fifth win in IndyCar and his first since winning the Iowa Grand Prix in July 2022.
The third GP of the campaign will be this April 28 in Alabama, where O’Ward already won a couple of years ago.
Pato O’Ward began this season with the goal of fighting for the IndyCar championship, including going for victory in the Indianapolis 500. And above this, the Mexican wants to do more to receive the call from Formula 1, where he is McLaren’s reserve driver, as he recently told La Opinión.
Keep reading:
– Pato O’Ward’s opinion about Checo Pérez: “He is against the best drivers in history”
– Pato O’Ward assures that if they give him the opportunity in Formula 1, no one is going to get him out of that car
– Checo Pérez leaves behind the historic Michael Schumacher in the total points in F1