F1: Pato O’Ward warns F1 ‘will swallow up IndyCar’

Following F1’s dramatic rise in US popularity, Pato O’Ward has warned it could “swallow up IndyCar” if the series does not “step up”.

As we have written, the best thing Roger Penske could do for IndyCar, given his advanced age, would be to sell the series to Liberty media, who wanted to buy the series when they were acquiring F1.

Since Liberty Media’s acquisition of Formula 1 in 2016, there has been a huge rise in popularity of the sport in the United States.

As an IndyCar driver and a test driver for the McLaren F1 team, Pato O’Ward said, “As Formula 1 has really taken off, I think it has helped other series around the world including IndyCar,” O’Ward told PlanetF1.

“But I think it’s to the point where, especially here in America, people know more of F1 than they know about IndyCar.

“It’s important for Americans to know about IndyCar. They know the Indy 500 but they think that that’s your championship and it’s a ‘well, you’re forgetting 16 more races.’

“I personally think that IndyCar has to watch out and we need to grow, we need to grow as a series, I’ve been trying to help in every way I can in order to help that because it’s a phenomenal series.

“I just think F1’s going to swallow up the series if it doesn’t step up.”

O’Ward has been driving in IndyCar since 2018 and maintains that it is “underrated” as a series.

“It’s so competitive, it’s so hard to win,” the 23-year-old said. “It tests your skills in every single part of a racetrack. A racing driver needs to be perfect in order to be a champion.

“I’ve said it before, I think that IndyCar is extremely underrated. I think it’s grown, because of how many high profile drivers are interested in racing in it.