O’Ward enjoyed his first taste of F1 machinery at the end of last year in Abu Dhabi when he took part in the young driver test as a reward for scoring his maiden IndyCar win for the Arrow McLaren SP squad.
The Mexican driver finished the year third in the IndyCar standings and was in contention for the championship until the final race, taking wins in Texas and Detroit.
Following his test in the McLaren MCL35M in Abu Dhabi, O’Ward said he thought there was a two-year window to make an F1 switch happen, and that he would do “everything I can to make it happen”.
McLaren Racing CEO Brown has long stressed the importance of O’Ward remaining focused on his duties in IndyCar, and felt that winning the championship would be the easiest way for him to stake a claim to a future F1 seat.
“That’s exactly what I told him, the quickest way to F1 is to go and do what Juan Pablo Montoya or Alex Zanardi or Jacques Villeneuve or Michael Andretti did: go win in IndyCar,” Brown said.
“That’s…
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