F1 News
McLaren driver impatient: 'I'm not going to sit and do this for another five years!'
Pato O'Ward has been McLaren's reserve and test driver for some time now, and he recently shared an interesting perspective about his situation, describing his involvement with the team, without actively participating in the races as the team's main driver, as "going to a buffet, not being able to eat."
Next season, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will againbe McLaren's main drivers in Formula One as they try to defend the Constructors' title and try to clinch the Drivers'. O'Ward is the Woking-based team's reserve driver, but the Mexican talent does not want to stay in the supporting role for too long.
O'Ward on his reserve role at McLaren
"It's cool to have seen the team win the constructors' championship and everything, I was happy to be at least a 'small crumb' part of that. But it's quite tough because it's like going to a buffet, not being able to eat - everyone else is eating and enjoying and you're just there; you don't get to do what you love to do, and you get to watch other people do it. It's definitely not my favourite thing in the world," O'Ward said to The Race.
"I'm at a point in my career where I'm all in, and I've been all in for so long for this opportunity in Formula 1 to come about, but that always has a deadline, it will always have a date where it's just... 'that's enough', because it might never happen. I'm not open to doing it for five more years. I think there's definitely a deadline and that will come sooner rather than later. I'm giving it everything this year and hopefully my opportunities keep on growing," O'Ward concluded to the English medium.
This article was written in collaboration with Estéban den Toom.
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