Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward has gone public with a stark admission that the 2026 Formula 1 regulations have killed his appetite to join the grand prix grid, joining a growing chorus of drivers and pundits who say the new formula feels less like racing and more like a video game.
The 26-year-old Mexican is McLaren's official F1 reserve and has made five FP1 appearances for the team since 2022, yet unlike Colton Herta – who is chasing a Cadillac seat via Formula 2 this year – O'Ward is no longer trying to convert that proximity into a full-time race seat.
Speaking to FOX Deportes, he put the blame squarely on the way the sport has chosen to evolve, echoing complaints that Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have voiced since the season began.
"The hunger I had to get to Formula 1 wasn't for fame or money," O'Ward said. "It was because the cars were something impressive; driving those cars was something impressive."
The point of contention is the hybrid deployment system at the heart of the 2026 power unit, which allocates energy in ways drivers have argued are too scripted, too algorithmic and, in several cases, outside their control.
"You don't want to be flipping a switch to say, 'Oh, I'm going to press it to pass him artificially.' It's not Mario Kart; we're racing here. Honestly, I have zero desire to be part of that," O'Ward continued.
The Mario Kart comparison is now well-worn in the paddock, with Verstappen using almost identical phrasing earlier this year and several team principals privately conceding that the overtake tools look closer to an arcade boost button than a driver-led opportunity.
O'Ward argued that IndyCar, where he currently sits sixth in the standings after four rounds, delivers the kind of driver-first racing he grew up wanting.
"I feel that right now, today, this is the best series for a driver who wants to race, here, in IndyCar," he said. "Formula 1 right now is an artificial show, and honestly, I have zero desire for it; it doesn't grab my attention."
His decision carries weight because it comes from inside the McLaren family. O'Ward has driven the current F1 car in simulator work and in practice sessions, so his judgement is not that of an outsider extrapolating from a TV feed. He is someone with hands-on exposure to the regulation set and he is still walking away.
For McLaren, it closes off one pathway back to a Mexican driver on the F1 grid just as the commercial value of that market continues to grow. For Formula 1, it raises an uncomfortable question: if a driver of O'Ward's calibre, already inside a top team's structure, is publicly saying the product is broken, how much longer can the FIA and FOM insist the 2026 package just needs a little time to bed in?
The answer will begin to emerge at the stakeholders' meeting earmarked for this break, where technical tweaks aimed at taming the energy deployment quirks are expected to be tabled. But O'Ward's verdict will sting regardless of what gets agreed. The 2026 regulations were pitched as the start of a new era. For at least one young driver with a foot already inside the door, they have become a reason to close it for good.
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*Originally published on [Formula 1 News](https://newsformula.one/article/pato-oward-walks-away-from-f1-dream-its-not-mario-kart-were-racing-here). Visit for full coverage.*