In a recent interview, Zak Brown called the situation with Pato O’Ward’s super license “not entirely clear”, but stressed that McLaren was looking into the matter. The motorsport press is already calling this situation a classic example of the absurdity of the FIA approach to issuing super licenses, but it seems that the Mexican Arrow McLaren driver will still receive the coveted document, and can then officially become a reserve driver become. for the Formula 1 team.
Formally, Pato is missing four points – he has 36, but needs 40. The paradox is that if he were to participate in Formula 2 or even Formula 3, he would already have these 40 points. But for 4th place at the end of the season in IndyCar, only 10 points are awarded (in F2 – 30, in F3 – 15).
But the fact is that during the pandemic the federation adopted changes to the rules for issuing super licenses, which are still in force. Based on these changes, the calculation takes into account the three best results achieved by the rider, not in three, but in four previous years.
Pato O’Ward finished 4th in the 2020 IndyCar season, 3rd in 2021, 7th in 2022 and fourth again in 2023. He also received a point for participating in Friday practice during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year. All this gives him a total of 41 points.
“We are now clarifying all this with the FIA, but we believe he is now entitled to a super licence,” confirms McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. He is a fully qualified driver to drive a Formula 1 car and should be one of our reserve drivers. Pato will drive the MCL60 during the first practice session in Abu Dhabi, but also on Tuesday during testing after the season finale.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
