McLaren’s Pato O’Ward slams Penske after Indy 500 qualifying controversy
Penske's actions have been criticised by a leading driver from a rival team.
Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward has hit out at Team Penske after the latter skipped the Fast 12 for the Indianapolis 500 after technical drama.
Penske’s IndyCar squad was engulfed in a major controversy on Sunday when Josef Newgarden’s car was found to be in breach of the series’ technical rules. Specifically, Penske was found guilty of a “body fit violation on the rear attenuator” on the #2 Dallara-Chevrolet - raising several eyebrows in the paddock.
Although Will Power’s car was cleared in technical inspection, it carried the same modification, prompting Penske to withdraw both cars from the final segment of the car.
The team’s third driver, Scott McLaughlin, was already forced to miss the session after damaging his primary car in a major practice shunt.
Following Sunday’s drama, McLaren star O’Ward took aim at Penske, saying a team of its calibre doesn’t “need to be doing that stuff.”
He also feels IndyCar should have spotted the modification earlier and given other teams a fair chance at qualifying higher up the grid.
"They weren't accidentally doing it because they had the blowtorch right there in order to get it out," said O'Ward, who qualified on the front row. "Honestly, I feel for [Jacob] Abel and for everybody that did the disqualifications or the last chance qualifying. Those cars weren't in regulations.
"I'm not an engineer, so I can't tell you what they were doing, how much speed that it is or if it is any speed. Obviously, it's not in regulation. The rule is pretty black and white.
“Those cars should have been in the last-chance qualifier. Like, those cars should have never — obviously, they didn't do anything in the Fast 12, but they should have been brought into the LCQ because they had that yesterday, I guarantee you....until someone pointed it out today.
“Those cars, if they're disqualified today, they should have been disqualified yesterday.
"It's a shame really because they don't need to be doing that stuff. They're a great team. They have got great drivers. Why are doing that? It makes no sense."
