{"id":1544,"date":"2026-09-03T08:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=1544"},"modified":"2026-09-03T08:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:33:16","slug":"oward-acknowledges-palous-indycar-superiority-he-does-some-pretty-magical-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/oward-acknowledges-palous-indycar-superiority-he-does-some-pretty-magical-things\/","title":{"rendered":"O\u2019Ward acknowledges Palou\u2019s IndyCar superiority: \u201cHe does some pretty magical things\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pato O\u2019Ward praised \u00c1lex Palou\u2019s ability to extract performance even when Ganassi does not have the best car.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The McLaren driver said he feels <strong>\u201ca little bit of a step behind\u201d<\/strong> Palou and Ganassi after the Spaniard secured his fifth IndyCar championship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>O\u2019Ward also highlighted Palou\u2019s ability to recover from mistakes, saying he can often <strong>back them up with a win<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pato O\u2019Ward admitted he feels one step behind \u00c1lex Palou throughout the IndyCar season.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The McLaren driver praised Palou\u2019s ability to <strong>\u201cdo truly magical things with the car\u201d<\/strong> even when Ganassi does not have the best equipment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>O\u2019Ward won both races in Milwaukee but remains locked in a tight fight for second place in the 2026 championship.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pato O\u2019Ward acknowledged <strong>\u00c1lex Palou\u2019s status as the benchmark in IndyCar<\/strong> after the Spaniard secured his fifth championship at Milwaukee. Speaking after sweeping both races at the Milwaukee Mile, the Arrow McLaren driver praised Palou\u2019s ability to deliver results even when Chip Ganassi Racing does not necessarily have the best car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Palou clinched his <strong>fifth IndyCar title and fourth in a row<\/strong> after finishing 10th in the opening Milwaukee race. O\u2019Ward, meanwhile, completed a historic double by winning both races on the same day, becoming the first driver to achieve the feat since 1981.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contrast between the two drivers was particularly notable. While O\u2019Ward enjoyed one of his strongest weekends of the season, Palou once again secured the championship through the consistency that has defined his recent dominance. <strong>O\u2019Ward believes McLaren still has some ground to make up on Palou and Ganassi.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI feel like we\u2019re always a little bit of a step behind because it has taken a little bit to kind of get up there,\u201d O\u2019Ward said during the post-race news conference. \u201cThey deliver and they execute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mexican then emphasized that Palou\u2019s advantage cannot simply be attributed to having the best equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe doesn\u2019t have the best car everywhere. <strong>Like, the guy also does some pretty magical things in it.<\/strong> He\u2019s obviously human. He will make mistakes just like we all do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Ward\u2019s point was that Palou\u2019s ability to respond to those mistakes is what makes the Spaniard particularly difficult to beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut the amount of times that he does make mistakes, he could always back it up with a win,\u201d the McLaren driver continued. \u201cThose are truly the times that give you the faults of having an issue or having a crash or whatever. Going into a weekend, we can back it up with a win, we\u2019ll kind of rebalance ourselves into this championship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Ward also joked that Palou has become an ever-present figure in the minds of his rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe guy lives rent free in everyone\u2019s head in the paddock,\u201d<\/strong> he said, before adding that Palou and Ganassi have \u201craised that bar\u201d and praising the performance of the #10 car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments came after O\u2019Ward produced a remarkable weekend of his own. The Mexican entered Milwaukee having endured a difficult 2026 campaign, but victories in both races dramatically improved his position in the championship fight. The result put him back into contention for <strong>second place in the standings<\/strong>, alongside Kyle Kirkwood and Christian Lundgaard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Ward believes the biggest opportunity to finally challenge Palou over an entire season could come with the <strong>next-generation IndyCar<\/strong>, which is scheduled to debut in 2028. However, he stressed that McLaren will continue pushing its current package rather than waiting for the regulation change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1020313158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Snap-On-Makers-and-Fixers-250-at-the-Milwaukee-Mile-Friday_-August-28_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m164003-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pato O\u2019Ward acknowledged \u00c1lex Palou\u2019s superiority in IndyCar (Photo: IndyCar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the biggest opportunity is going to be the new car. But that doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to stop pushing this current package. They\u2019re going to keep pushing as well,\u201d O\u2019Ward said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery step they take, every step we take, we keep pushing the boundaries. I feel like we\u2019re always a little bit of a step behind because it has taken a little bit to kind of get up there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the 2026 IndyCar season now heading to its finale, O\u2019Ward has an opportunity to finish the year strongly and carry momentum into 2027. The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/\">IndyCar 2026 championship battle<\/a><\/strong> will conclude at Laguna Seca, where the Mexican will fight for the runner-up position while Palou can race without the pressure of a title fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will follow all the action from the 2026 IndyCar season finale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did Pato O\u2019Ward say about \u00c1lex Palou?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Ward said Palou <strong>\u201cdoes some pretty magical things\u201d<\/strong> with his car even when Ganassi does not have the best equipment everywhere. He also praised Palou\u2019s ability to recover from mistakes with victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why does O\u2019Ward believe Palou is so difficult to beat?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to O\u2019Ward, Palou and Ganassi consistently <strong>deliver and execute<\/strong>, while Palou can compensate for mistakes by winning races soon afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is next for Pato O\u2019Ward?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Ward will fight for <strong>second place in the 2026 IndyCar championship<\/strong> at Laguna Seca. He also identified the new IndyCar, scheduled for 2028, as potentially the biggest opportunity for McLaren to close the gap to Palou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pato O\u2019Ward praised \u00c1lex Palou after his fifth IndyCar title, saying the Spaniard does not always have the best car but still finds a way to extract extraordinary performance from it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020313436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"O\u2019Ward admits McLaren is \u201ca little bit\u201d behind Palou and Ganassi","42wp_featured_image_credits":"IndyCar","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,26,10,110],"42wp_author":[55],"class_list":["post-1544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indy","tag-alex-palou","tag-ganassi","tag-mclaren","tag-pato-oward","42wp_author-caio-cavalcante"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020313436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1544"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=1544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}