IndyCar: Did Patricio O’Ward make the right decision by signing with Carlin?

By Asher Fair | Mar 19, 2019

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: Patricio O'Ward, driver of the #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet, on track during pracrtice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway on September 14, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /

Patricio O’Ward is set to start his rookie IndyCar season in this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas. Was signing with Carlin the right decision for him?

Just days after the 2018 IndyCar season finale at Sonoma Raceway, the race in which 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward made his IndyCar debut and drove his #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet to a ninth place finish after starting in fifth, Harding Racing formed a partnership with Steinbrenner Racing to create Harding Steinbrenner Racing.

Upon the creation of Harding Steinbrenner Racing, the team announced that they would enter the 2019 IndyCar season with two full-time drivers and that one of them would be O’Ward. O’Ward was slated to drive the #8 Chevrolet, which became the #8 Honda when the team switched engine manufacturers in December.

However, while the team’s other driver, 2018 Indy Lights runner-up Colton Herta, drove the #88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda to an eight place finish in the 2019 season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, O’Ward did not compete in it, as he was released by the team under one month before the start of the season.

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Shortly after O’Ward was released by Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti stated that he offered the 19-year-old Mexican a deal to compete in eight of the 2019 season’s 17 races but that O’Ward rejected this offer. While O’Ward admitted that he did not accept it offer, he also stated that he did not reject it.

Keep in mind, Andretti Autosport and Harding Steinbrenner Racing formed a technical alliance before the start of the 2019 season.

As the start of the 2019 season neared, O’Ward was still left without a ride, and it appeared more and more likely that he would drive for Andretti Autosport, the team for which he drove in his 2018 Indy Lights championship-winning rookie season, in eight races.

But just days before the season began, Carlin announced that O’Ward signed a deal to compete in 13 of the season’s 17 races for the team. The season opener was not one of these 13 races.

With Max Chilton set to drive the #59 Carlin Chevrolet on a full-time basis in the 2019 season and with Charlie Kimball set to drive the #23 Carlin Chevrolet in five of the season’s 17 races, O’Ward’s deal lined up him to drive for the team in 12 races. He is set to make his other start as the team’s third driver in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 in May, and he is set to drive the #31 Chevrolet in all 13 of his starts.

Did O’Ward, who had the opportunity to sign with arguably the sport’s top team, make the right decision by signing with Carlin, which are entering only their second season in IndyCar and struggled mightily in the 2018 season?

Many fans might argue that signing a deal to drive in an additional five races when the other deal still involves driving in a solid total of eight races is not the right move when it likely comes at the expense of driving a regularly competitive car.

But this move could take O’Ward’s IndyCar career to a new level.

At Andretti Autosport, O’Ward would have been the team’s fifth driver in seven of his eight races driving for the team, and he would have been their sixth in the Indy 500. Their full-time drivers are Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi and Zach Veach, and they signed Conor Daly for the Indy 500.

While he would be a part-time rookie, O’Ward would have still been expected to perform at a high level each and every race driving for Andretti Autosport. After all, he won nine of the 17 races on the 2018 Indy Lights schedule and finished on the podium in four of the others driving for this team, and he clinched the championship before the season finale — as a rookie.

Struggling while driving for Andretti Autosport in IndyCar could damage O’Ward’s career in that it could make it more unlikely for top-tier teams to sign him, and driving in only eight races as opposed to 13 could make it more challenging for him to prove his worth.

Meanwhile, driving for Carlin, O’Ward is not only set to gain more experience than he would have driving for Andretti Autosport. He is also set to be the lone teammate to Chilton in 12 races and a teammate to both Chilton and Kimball in just one race.

Chilton and Kimball spent a combined nine seasons (two for Chilton (2016 and 2017), seven for Kimball (2011 through 2017)) driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, one of the sport’s top-tier teams.

By outperforming Chilton on a regular basis, O’Ward can prove that he deserves a full-time ride with a top-tier team, especially if he outperforms him convincingly, which is the expectation that many fans have for him.

For a part-time rookie, this is certainly not a guarantee, but it is definitely a much more manageable task than trying to outperform Andretti Autosport’s drivers, especially Hunter-Reay and Rossi, on a regular basis as a 19-year-old with one career IndyCar start under his belt, and it is a much smarter one when all the potential long-term career implications are considered.

As of now, it looks like O’Ward made the right move, but only time will tell for certain.

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Did Patricio O’Ward make the right move by signing with Carlin to drive in 13 of the 2019 IndyCar season’s 17 races as opposed to signing with Andretti Autosport to drive in eight of the season’s races? How will he perform throughout the course of the season, specifically relative to teammate Max Chilton?

Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network at 1:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 24, as that is when O’Ward’s rookie season is scheduled to kick off. The IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas is scheduled to take place at this time, and this race is the first ever IndyCar race at the Austin, Texas track.