IndyCar News: Pato O'Ward Unhappy With How Crash Was Dealt With - 'So Surprised'

Alex Harrington | Jul 21, 2024

Jul 19, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward (5) during first round practice for the Honda Dealers Indy at Streets of Toronto. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward openly expressed his discontent with how race officials handled a serious crash incident during a recent race in Toronto. Concentrating on a potential top-six finish, O'Ward lost control of his car due to rear locking at a crucial turn near Toronto's Princes' Gate, setting off a chain of unfortunate events.

O'Ward's mishap crash seemed manageable when his car spun out without immediate interference from other drivers. However, the situation escalated quickly as Marcus Ericsson, in an attempt to dodge O'Ward, crashed into the outside wall. This reaction resulted in a domino effect involving several cars including Pietro Fittipaldi, Santino Ferrucci, and Nolan Siegel, O'Ward's teammate. The most dramatic part of the incident saw Ferrucci's car soaring into the catch fencing, while Siegel's vehicle careened across the track, ultimately colliding with Toby Sowery.

Responding to the incident, O'Ward was notably frustrated with the delay in race control's response, suggesting that a prompt caution flag could have mitigated the severity of the multi-car collision.

"I had rear locking. It spun and that's pretty much the end of that," O'Ward recounted. “I am so surprised IndyCar didn’t call a yellow. Like you're just calling for a massive shunt. They had a solid five seconds to call yellow and tell everybody that was coming.”

O'Ward voiced his apologies and concern, particularly given the broader implications for his team:

“But I'm glad everybody else that was in it is fine. Sorry for the team. Obviously, we were having a better race than what we've had all weekend. It's really been miserable.”

Ferrucci, another driver impacted by the cascading crashes, criticized the oversight from race officials and the spotters, who failed to inform him of the impending hazard as he navigated through the chaos.

"First off, I'm very, very thankful to the IndyCar medical team," he said. "[The] cars are so safe to have a scary accident like that and just walk away," Ferrucci remarked.

“I never saw Pato. At the start of the race, I had the steering wheel bent trying to avoid Pato and we were left-hand up, right-hand down [for the rest of the race]. When I came through there, I never saw Pietro clip him and nothing on the spotters. There were no yellows, nothing. I didn't know to check up and it's just super unfortunate, I was trying to take care of the equipment, trying to have a recovery day and just a bummer.”