Alex Palou much less interested in an F1 that no longer "calls him"

He is the key man at the start of the season in IndyCar. Winner of five of the first six races of the season, a feat that has not been achieved since AJ Foyt in 1979 (in a USAC championship that faced competition from the newly created CART), Álex Palou managed to reach another stage in his career by winning the 109th edition of the Indianapolis 500 Miles. A consecration that should logically lead him to be courted again by the teams of Formula 1.

While racing on an oval track for 800 kilometers is nothing like competing in a Grand Prix on a road circuit anywhere in the world, the prestige of the Indy 500 is such that it may be what the Spaniard lacked to once again interest the teams at the pinnacle of motorsport. However, listening to the main interested party, the day after his victory, the chances of him finding himself in Formula 1 in 2026 are not enormous.

Palou would have turned the page on F1

“F1 doesn't call me anymore. I still follow it; it's a huge championship. It's incredible. I'm a big fan, but I don't think they have as much fun as I do here. I don't see people partying with their wives and kids as much as we do. I don't see the drivers hanging out with each other in the parking lot of the motorhomes we have here or having dinner with their mechanics. I just like driving, having fun, and being with my friends, so I think F1 is the complete opposite.”

While he has been close to Formula 1, especially after his first IndyCar title in 2021, the Catalan seems to have moved away from it in recent years. By his own admission, his success at Indianapolis only strengthens his desire to remain in the American championship, within a team with which he has won everything in recent seasons. A team, Chip Ganassi Racing, which he almost left at the end of 2022 to join McLaren, who dangled Formula 1 as a carrot. After being sued by both teams (the case is still ongoing with the Woking team, which is seeking $23 million in damages), Palou stayed with Ganassi, winning the last two titles and thus this year's Indy 500.

“I don’t want to leave now. Even if they say, ‘No, don’t worry, you can come back in one or two,’ what if all of a sudden everyone is at a better level and I never manage to catch them? F1 wasn’t on my mind last year, and it’s not on my mind this year. It’s less and less the case every day, and now all I’ve wanted since Sunday is to win the 500 Miles again.”

F1, still in the spotlight behind the scenes?

Yet, at 28, Palou could prove to be a prime recruit for the Cadillac team, which will be entering Formula 1 next season. While the American brand wants to place an experienced driver in the first of its two seats, it has never hidden its desire to add him in the second car a young driver, and possibly one from IndyCar. While Colton Herta has long held the lead due to his ties to TWG Motorsports (the parent company managing Cadillac's entry into F1 and owner of the Andretti Global team), the American's less than expected start to the season could work against him.

Dominant in the single-seater championship across the Atlantic, Palou would arrive with a significant background, he who is competing in his sixth season in IndyCar, and who could therefore win a fourth title. If the driver himself seems to have turned the page on Formula 1, the IndyStar daily reports that his lawyers Kavan Bakhda and Jonathan Hadaya (who are now also in charge of his career) spent time with Dan Towriss, head of TWG Motorsports, in his hospitality during the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The trio were also seen talking in the pit lane of the Indy 500 this Sunday, a few moments after Palou's victory. While the Spaniard beat Marcus Ericsson, who drives for Andretti, Towriss's team, it is not certain that the discussion was only about congratulations to the driver of the No. 10 and encouraging words for the Swede aboard the No. 28...

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