IndyCarhits the streets of Long Beach, and one of the sport's biggest spots is rightfully pumping the series tires ahead of one of its marquee races.
Arrow McLaren driverPato O'Wardcomes into the weekend in P6 in the standings and is hoping to notch his first win of the season.
However, ahead of the weekend, the Mexican driver was asked by Fox Deportes if he still had aspirations of leaving IndyCar to race inFormula 1.
He had previously expressed interest in making the jump, but that has certainly waned, at least for the time being.
"Every year it has changed more... honestly, the new Formula 1 cars—what the series has done has been a mistake," he said, perMotorsport. "The truth is, when you look at them, they are artificial."
Pato O’Ward rips F1’s 2026 cars as "artificial," cites battery issues killing speed, and says IndyCar now offers the best pure racing experience. (Getty Images)
O'Ward is alluding to the new 2026 regulations, which have been highly criticized, especially when it comes to the power units. Like the previous generation, they're V6 turbo-hybrid engines, but now they use a 50/50 energy split between the battery and the electrical system.
This has led to increased "superclipping" — F1 speak for when the batteries start recharging even if the driver has the accelerator flat to the floor — and allows for easy overtaking for the cars behind. It also causes previously high-speed sections of track, like130R at Suzuka, to be taken much slower than in years past.
O'Ward said that this has hurt his desire to move to F1 because, for him, it was about getting into the fastest, most advanced cars on the planet.
"The hunger I had to get to Formula 1 wasn't for fame or money... it was because the cars were something impressive; driving those cars was something impressive," he said.
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