Pato O'Ward had a impressive 2021, as the Mexican driver was involved in the Indycar title fight up until the last round at Long Beach and secured his first wins in the series as well.

O'Ward also took part in the end of the season tests for young drivers held in Abu Dhabi, partly as a result of a bet won by him against McLaren's CEO Zak Brown who had promised to give him the opportunity to run in an F1 car if he won a race, and made a positive impression on the British team, securing the fourth time of the day against more experienced drivers.

But his F1 mileage could grow in the upcoming season. According to the new regulations, every team will have to run rookie drivers in at least two practice sessions. Brown said in an interview to racer.com that the Abu Dhabi test wasn't just a prize for O'Ward's consistent Indycar campaign, but also an occasion to see how he would perform and adapt to the challenger, heavier than his usual car:

"I think any time you put a driver in your Formula 1 car, you only get so few test days and so few rookie days that you’re only going to put someone in that makes it a meaningful test."

“So it was a nice little reward but we would only put him in the car to also understand how capable he is of driving a Formula 1 car," he summed up.

Brown was pleased with the way he carried out his first ever F1 experience, but his good performance didn't come as a surprise to the British team:

"He did everything that we wanted him to do and expected him to do. He was extremely fast and brave but that didn’t surprise us."

"So we were more looking to see how does he adapt? Does he keep it on the island? How’s his feedback? And all of that, for his first run in the Formula 1 car, was very strong.”

Brown concluded that the final decision on the rookie driver, or drivers,  to run in 2022 won't be up to him, as Team Principal Andreas Seidl is in charge of it, but also highlighted that the Mexican driver, who will still be competing in Indycar with Arrow McLaren next season, definitely proved his worth.

“We have to run two FP1s next year. Ultimately it’s up to Andreas first and foremost to make a recommendation and take a view — of which, in the two years Andreas and I have been working together, I’ve always agreed with his recommendations and suggestions."

"We’ll do a full analysis — there’s some more rookie testing to be done so one step at a time, but a very good first step," he remarked.