Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward will make their Formula 1 practice session debuts for McLaren over the final four races of the season.
The team confirmed 2021 IndyCar champion Palou will drive Daniel Ricciardo’s car during the first practice session at the Circuit of the Americas one week from today.O’Ward will drive for the team at Yas Marina, taking over Lando Norris’s car for the first practice session ahead of the season finale. The four-times IndyCar race winner drove for McLaren in the young drivers’ test at the track last year.
Palou has also previously tested for McLaren as part of the team’s programme of runs using its 2021 MCL35M chassis. The team recently settled a dispute with Ganassi over Palou’s services which will see him stay at the IndyCar team next year, having previously announced a move to the McLaren SP squad O’Ward races for.
Palou said “it’s great to be driving in the United States in front of fans that may have seen me race in IndyCar.
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said the two drivers impressed them when they tested at the Circuit de Catalunya and Red Bull Ring earlier this year.
“It’s a great chance for them to showcase their skills on Formula 1’s global stage, where the focus will be to help the team prepare for the race weekend and not on ultimate lap times.”
With only four races left for teams to meet the quota of running at least two drivers with little F1 experience in practice sessions, many have seized upon the US and Abu Dhabi rounds as the best opportunity to complete the mandatory runs. McLaren is one of four teams which has confirmed it will run a junior driver in practice next week.
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F1 teams’ junior driver practice schedules
| Team | Event | Driver | Event | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | French Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries | TBC | TBC |
| Red Bull | Spanish Grand Prix | Juri Vips | TBC | TBC |
| Ferrari | United States Grand Prix | Robert Shwartzman | TBC | Robert Shwartzman |
| McLaren | United States Grand Prix | Alex Palou | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Pato O’Ward |
| Alpine | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| AlphaTauri | Belgian Grand Prix | Liam Lawson | TBC | Liam Lawson |
| Aston Martin | Italian Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Felipe Drugovich |
| Williams | Spanish Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries | United States Grand Prix | Logan Sargeant |
| Alfa Romeo | Bahrain Grand Prix | Zhou Guanyu | United States Grand Prix | Theo Pourchaire |
| Haas | Mexican Grand Prix | Pietro Fittipaldi | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Pietro Fittipaldi |
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Jere (@jerejj)
14th October 2022, 14:28
Palou at COTA is unsurprising, but I assumed Pato would drive in Mexico FP1 rather than Yas Marina.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
15th October 2022, 1:11
I presumed that he would be at the track he already knows from last year (Yas Marina), rather than have to learn a new circuit.
Although would have been nice to be in front of his home fans in Mexico.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th October 2022, 6:26
@eurobrun Good point.
Don
14th October 2022, 14:34
I think Palou would make a very good F1 driver. He’s so good he makes driving an IndyCar look easy. Very smooth, always in control of his emotions. I’m willing to bet he’ll make some strong impressions behind the wheel of a MCL36.
MichaelN
14th October 2022, 15:21
So that’s already four FP1 drivers at the Texas event, could be five if Alpine slots one in there too.
Not sure why that’s such a popular spot, but apparently F1 teams have their reasons. Perhaps they’re just running out of time to get their mandated runs in.
Qeki (@qeki)
14th October 2022, 23:37
I think they wanted to their drivers to get as much time as possible for the new cars and everyone wanted to let the juniors drive at the end of the season
Rob
14th October 2022, 16:31
Are there Super License points requirements for these practice session debut drives in F1?
MichaelN
14th October 2022, 16:56
The Sporting Regulations (#32.5) say that ‘On one occasion in each car entered for the Championship during each Championship, each Competitor must use a driver who has not participated in more than two Championship races in their career. Each Competitor must advise the FIA in writing seven days prior to the start of the relevant Event with the details of the driver that they will use.’
These drivers do not require an F1 super license.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
15th October 2022, 12:34
@MichaelN he means is a driver given superlicence points for taking part in a session.
Ancient1 (@ancient1)
15th October 2022, 13:31
One would have thought their new signing that yet is to drive in a GP event would have priority????
…or is he still an Alpine driver, even though the CRB concluded he is now not contracted?
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
16th October 2022, 13:13
@ancient1
He’s still an Alpine driver, and the CRB concluded he was not contracted to them for 2023, not that he wasn’t contracted to them at all. As such, McLaren would need Alpine’s agreement, and they still seem to be sulking about the whole thing.
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
16th October 2022, 13:16
I kind of assumed that anyone would take over Ricciardo’s car, given he is leaving. Surprised, but I’m sure McLaren must have their reasons.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
17th October 2022, 18:29
@kartguy07 I think that each race driver is obliged to give up one Friday P1 apiece, not the same driver each time.
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
21st October 2022, 14:50
@chimaera2003
Thanks, you are indeed correct, it is mandatory.