McLaren star reveals ‘political’ block to failed F1 bid

McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward has revealed he signed a contract with Red Bull to race for its sister F1 team in 2019 before the FIA reverted the decision to hand him a super licence.

O’Ward, who is now a major player in the IndyCar series, joined the Red Bull junior team in 2019 and was linked with a switch to F1.

The Mexican driver declared he was granted a super licence by F1 race director Charlie Whiting, who passed away on the eve of the 2019 season.

Speaking on the Creativo podcast, O’Ward claimed he had agreed terms to race for the Red Bull sister team – before the FIA opted to intervene.

“Helmut Marko actually signed me,” he said. “I signed a Formula 1 contract to enter the Toro Rosso seat at the end of 2019.

“At the end [sic] of that year, Charlie Whiting, who was in charge of the FIA, died – the one who had already approved my super licence.

“[But] they did not want to give me the licence because I was going to take the space from a Frenchman. It was a political issue.”

O’Ward is likely referring to Pierre Gasly, who was demoted back to Toro Rosso midway through 2019 following a difficult half-season at the senior Red Bull team.

O’Ward was then sent to Super Formula in Japan in an attempt to get the necessary points to acquire a super licence, however he stated he “couldn’t get points because it was not the full championship”.

Further issues arose when the FIA opted not to count his Indy Lights success in 2018, which had just seven full-time cars race.

“I had the points, but they didn’t want to count the IndyLights championship points because of the number of cars,” the 25-year-old said.

“They didn’t give me the points, after which I had to break with Red Bull. They couldn’t use me. 

“But I was going to race as a driver when Gasly was competing with Max Verstappen at Red Bull.”

As well as his IndyCar duties for McLaren, O’Ward has taken part in several F1 free practice sessions with the Woking-based squad.