McLaren F1 reserve Pato O'Ward caught in DRAMATIC pile up

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McLaren star caught in DRAMATIC pile up

A member of the McLaren F1 family got themselves in a tight spot this weekend

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Monday 22 July 2024 11:58 Updated: 15:57

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McLaren F1 reserve driver Pato O'Ward was involved in a shocking collision at the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

O'Ward, who recently confirmed his multi-year contract extension with Arrow McLaren, exited the race in dramatic fashion, spinning out before getting collected by a host of other cars.

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O'Ward's car ended up pointing backward, narrowly missing championship rival Alex Palou as he spun, and a couple of cars managed to take evasive action before Santino Ferrucci, Marcus Ericsson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Nolan Siegel all piled into the Arrow McLaren.

The first impact damaged O'Ward's front wing and nose, meaning Ferrucci was greeted by a stationary car essentially acting as a ramp – and was launched fully into the air and into the catch fencing in terrifying fashion.

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Ferrucci and all of the other drivers involved avoided major injury in the incident.

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The red flag has been displayed.

?: #IndyTO on Peacock pic.twitter.com/pxVdFIsQ68
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 21, 2024

The race was under caution for most of the first ten laps after a couple of incidents of contact, but was under green flag conditions all the way from then under lap 67 when Kyffin Simpson hit the Turn 8 wall.

That caution bunched the field up, leading to the conditions for O'Ward and co's pile-up just two laps after the restart.