F1 Dec 07, 2025

IndyCar: Arrow McLaren SP win for second time with Pato O'Ward in dramatic Detroit GP weekend

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
IndyCar: Arrow McLaren SP win for second time with Pato O'Ward in dramatic Detroit GP weekend

McLaren claimed their second win since returning full time to IndyCar at the Detroit GP, as Pato O'Ward also moved into the lead of the championship.

A day after team-mate Felix Rosenqvist had been hospitalised following a big accident in Saturday's opening race at Belle Isle, O'Ward won from 16th on the grid in swashbuckling style to become the first two-time winner in 2021 after eight races.

O'Ward, who finished third in Saturday's race, had made good progress from his qualifying position and the Arrow McLaren SP driver ran fifth for the final race restart with seven laps remaining.

He won after picking up off long-time race leader Josef Newgarden with three laps to go, the two cars making contact as they went side-by-side before the 22-year-old Mexican pulled ahead for the victory.

"In my head, the two guys that I'm fighting the championship with are in front of me, and I was not going to be pleased if we ended behind them," said O'Ward to AP, whose first win came on the Texas Motor Speedway at the start of May.

"So if I had the chance I was going to strike.

"I just had to make sure every strike wasn't like, Oh, am I going to get it? It had to be boom, definite. Once you're on the inside, it's yours. I felt like I did it very clean."

O'Ward moves one-point clear of Alex Palou in a closely-fought championship, with reigning champion Scott Dixon shuffled back into third ahead of the Road America round this weekend.

The race's final caution period was triggered by a stoppage Romain Grosjean, whose front brakes caught fire.

After stopping and exiting his Dale Coyne Racing car, Grosjean, who miraculously escaped an inferno following an accident in last November's F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain, ran over to trackside marshals to get a fire extinguisher before dashing back to try and minimise the damage to his car.

IndyCar's safety team were soon on the scene and shepherded Grosjean away from the car while they put out the remaining flames.

"It was a pretty eventful weekend in Detroit," said Grosjean. "I think we had two mega qualifying results with a third yesterday and fifth today.

"But I got sandwiched at the race start and I lost a fair bit of positions. Then we tried to come into the race, but I picked up a drive-through penalty and we tried to come back from there.

"Eventually we had a brake fire, and I had to extinguish a fire, but we're all good here!"

Marcus Ericsson, a former rival of Grosjean's in F1, had won on Saturday for the first win of the Swede's IndyCar career.

Qualifying - 7pm on Saturday

Race - 5.30pm on Sunday

Tags:

f1 news id:12332194

Share this article

Related Posts

F1 team-mate 2026 head-to-head: Qualifying, Race, Sprint latest scores, results from Formula 1 season

F1 team-mate 2026 head-to-head: Qualifying, Race, Sprint latest scores, results from Formula 1 season

The 2026 Formula 1 head-to-heads with all of the latest Qualifying, Sprint and Grand Prix scores in each of the 11 teams.QUALIFYINGGrand Prix: Norris...

Toto Wolff: Max Verstappen's 'horror show' at Red Bull impacting his criticism of 2026 Formula 1 regulations

Toto Wolff: Max Verstappen's 'horror show' at Red Bull impacting his criticism of 2026 Formula 1 regulations

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Max Verstappen's "horror show" at Red Bull is contributing to the Dutchman's criticism of Formula 1's new...

F1 confirms cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix due to war in Middle East as 2026 calendar reduced to 22 races

F1 confirms cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix due to war in Middle East as 2026 calendar reduced to 22 races

Formula 1 has confirmed the cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East, reducing the 2026 season to 22...

F1 Chinese GP LIVE: Race, Qualifying, Sprint, Practice updates, results, stream, highlights from Shanghai round

F1 Chinese GP LIVE: Race, Qualifying, Sprint, Practice updates, results, stream, highlights from Shanghai round

Carra: Reds must address problem position in summerLiverpool must add another central midfielder this summer with the club failing to control the...

F1 Academy 2026: Reports, calendar, news, results, standings and highlights for races this season

F1 Academy 2026: Reports, calendar, news, results, standings and highlights for races this season

Carra: Reds must address problem position in summerLiverpool must add another central midfielder this summer with the club failing to control the...

Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari driver says first podium for team proved his 'biggest challenge' after strong Chinese GP drive

Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari driver says first podium for team proved his 'biggest challenge' after strong Chinese GP drive

Lewis Hamilton admitted finishing on the podium as a Ferrari driver had proved to be his "biggest challenge" after he finally ended the wait in the Ch...