When raindrops began to fall on Thursday evening during the Grand Prix weekend in Las Vegas, a group of twenty people formed McLaren supercars gathered stealthily outside the wall at Turn 12. The lucky owners joked about taking part in the so-called Million Dollar Drive, a chance to chase last year’s IndyCar Series runner-up Pato O’Ward around the amazing F1 street course after the second free practice concluded. McLaren offered me the chance to get in on the action, so I happily donned a helmet and jumped into one of my favorite supercars, a 750S, for a quick stint of just two laps of 3.853 miles.
I stopped at Turn 12, very curious about the top speed and cornering traction on the Vegas strip. The few other F1 circuits – current and former – that I had driven before tended to have the most pristine tarmac surface of any circuit on earth. But Vegas didn’t join the F1 calendar until 2023, and its first year proved somewhat infamous after a manhole cover came loose from the downforce of the race cars and destroyed Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Rumors of another manhole cover even caused a brief delay in FP2 when I started working on the McLarens. And as I drove away, the rain just started falling harder and harder. Negotiating the weather, the other McLaren drivers trying to keep an eye on O’Ward in his fully equipped Artura race car – with the brilliant neon lights blazing on my increasingly raindrop-spattered windshield – required extreme focus.
But the actual road surface in Vegas proved extremely forgiving, surprisingly grippy despite the rain, and more slippery than slippery. Until I crashed over a curb or two and upset the suspension of my 750S a bit.
Still, ripping through the gears in front of a crowd of F1 fans, the casinos flying by, the Sphere lighting up the night sky. Without a doubt one of the driving forces of my life.
Meet McLaren’s IndyCar superstar: Pato O’Ward
Before heading out for such a memorable evening, I spoke with O’Ward, hoping to gather some words of wisdom on what to expect from the evening’s festivities and the upcoming IndyCar season from one of the racing world’s last remaining old-school wild men, famous for his ninja-fast hands on the wheel, and a true fan favorite.
How does the street course for the Vegas F1 circuit compare to street courses for IndyCar such as Long Beach, St. Petersburg and Toronto?
Certainly less bumpy; it’s smooth. I wouldn’t say it’s the smoothest as the F1 cars porpoise quite a bit. But compared to an IndyCar street circuit, the F1 car’s floor wouldn’t survive at all. But in a street car it won’t be bumpy for you. You may feel some undulations, especially if you go super fast in the back, but you won’t feel any hard bumps. I think you’ll really appreciate what the car can do in terms of speed, if we can wring its neck a little in the rear end.
What about the transitions, the curbs and the asphalt?
The curbs are aggressive. You will definitely feel the curbs when you drive on them. It’s the same asphalt everywhere, so there isn’t really a transition from concrete to asphalt; everything is the same. But I would say that the track itself is not as rough as other typical street courses, at least different from what I am used to.
Have you ever driven in Monaco?
I didn’t drive in Monaco! But I bet it feels like you’re going 300, 400 miles per hour in a Formula 1 car.
Speaking of which, I know you’ve done some free practice with McLaren F1. How is your relationship with the F1 team these days?
My full-time job is in IndyCar, and my side job is free travel around the Formula 1 world and jumping in the F1 car every now and then. It’s not that shabby at all. I get to watch, entertain and sometimes drive [in free practice].
In what ways do you think IndyCar is more exciting than F1?
There is a bit more chaos in the races, I would say. Strangely enough this year [2025] was dominated by one director [Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing]but that is usually never the case. I mean, this hasn’t been seen in 50 years. But normally you can never tell who will be on stage. And I feel like in F1 you can get a good idea. So I would say it’s a little more unpredictable and chaotic, and I feel like that draws attention.
But what F1 has that no one else has is just sex appeal. The sexy status, just like the invisible wall, everyone wants to be there, just to be there. No one else has been able to reach that level. Clearly they are global; you have the biggest brands in the world with the most money. But it’s turned into like, ‘Hey, I was there.’ No matter how little you know about racing cars.
I definitely see a lot of selfies being taken here in Vegas. What are your expectations for IndyCar next season?
I hope the series continues to grow. I know FOX [IndyCar’s new-for-2025 TV partner] has been a big thing for the series, and they have a role in the game. And so I think the trajectory it’s on is going in the right direction. But I think it’s also quite important for the leadership to make the right choices about where we race and what we’re going to do with the new car. We still want to be a leading global series, even if this is mainly in America.
The cars cannot all be spec. We still need to have different engines; we still need to have something worth developing for teams. There’s got to be some differences in creativity, you know, so I really hope they don’t take that away.
My personal goal is that I want to finish every lap, which was my goal this year, but unfortunately those dreams were crushed in Portland when I had an engine problem. And then I had the blowout in Nashville. That wasn’t great. I just want to finish every lap and I feel like that will put me in a good position at the end of the year.
Okay, the most important question: we’ve talked about your amazing car collection before. What do you drive most these days?
I have my head turner, which is a [McLaren] 720S in Tokyo cyan. It looks like baby blue. For my daily driver I have an M3 Comp. I really like it, it’s all-wheel drive, but you can only use reverse mode, like drift mode, if you want.
I have the ultimate in luxury and in my opinion this is the best in the garage: a Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost. I never thought I would enjoy a car like this at such a young age, but it is the epitome of not being rushed in the morning. That’s what it feels like. I drive that thing almost every day I’m home.
And I have the loudest car, my Shelby Cobra kit car. I wish it was an original, but it has a 5.0 liter Coyote, 485 hp, fuel injection, side pipes, super loud. Then I have a Ferrari 458 Italia with a Novitec exhaust, Vorsteiner aero, the thing looks mean, looks cool.
That’s what I have now, I’m quite happy, that’s a good collection. But at some point I would like to have one [McLaren] W1.
Oh, I know who you can talk to about that…
Yes, I’m going to make a bet with Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO]. He doesn’t know anything about it yet, but I’m going to make a bet. I win the Indy 500, he gives me a W1. I think that’s completely fair!
Images: Andrew Links, FIA, McLaren Retail
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