Pato O’Ward struggled in practice at Portland International Raceway for Arrow McLaren, setting the 15th-fastest time at the final road course of the season.
The Mexican is coming into the weekend after a disappointing couple of races on the streets of Toronto and the oval at Gateway, failing to finish inside the top 15.
O’Wards’ title credentials have suffered in recent races. He now sits sixth in the standings, 98 points behind championship leader Alex Palou.
The Arrow McLaren driver tried multiple setup changes before eventually taking steps in the right direction in practice.
Pato O’Ward believes the No. 5 was lacklustre at the start of the practice session
Arrow McLaren have lacked stability and strong results in recent times, with the No. 6 car having multiple different drivers this season.
The team have also suffered throughout the last couple of rounds, with McLaren missing an opportunity to score a top-five finish last time out at Gateway.
O’Ward failed to finish, and Alexander Rossi finished in a lowly 19th place at World Wide Technology Raceway after recovering from injuring his wrist in practice at Toronto.
O’Ward was pleased to see the car improve over the practice session at Portland after persisting with the setup of the car. He is also conscious that qualifying will be very close across the 28-car field on such a short circuit.
The Mexican told NBC Sports: “We had a good session, I would say. We rolled off of the truck really weak, at least from the No. 5 side. We had a lot of work to do, and we were just changing, changing, changing, changing things. It seems that we found a little bit of what we need.
“That last run that we did, I think, put us in a nice spot, or at least put me in a spot where I can extract more from the car. Definitely in a better position going into practise two tomorrow. Just trying to maximise. It’s really tight. Really, really tight.
“It’s going to be very important in qualifying to not make any mistakes, and any little hiccup is just going to put you backwards. I’m happy with the improvements that we made during the session, and I think we’re definitely in a better spot for tomorrow.”
Arrow McLaren have struggled to match Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing
Arrow McLaren have been consistently at the front of the field for multiple seasons, scoring victories and podiums, but have failed to challenge for a title since 2021.
O’Ward pushed Palou for the title in 2021, a battle that came down to a tense finale at Long Beach, before ultimately losing out on the title.
Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have won the past 11 championships between them and have been the teams to beat.
Arrow McLaren have made errors such as O’Ward’s plenum fire at St. Petersburg in 2023, losing the race win and struggling to consistently win races since then.