At the end of May, Alex Palou received a lot of attention within Formula 1 Paddock as a result of his Indy 500 victory. In that case, the spotlight was a rating for his performance, because he did not propose one of the Cadillac chairs.
Those journeys have now officially gone the way of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, but strangely enough there have been more questions about Palou who has since made the switch to F1, after a rumor that Red Bull had shown interest in his services.
Racer understands that there is an important buy-out clause in the Ganassi contract of Palou and was told by his manager that he had not spoken with someone at Red Bull. Palou’s current boss Chip Ganassi was just as negative when he approached speculation this week.
“I read that (story) myself,” said Ganassi. “Nobody was quoted. I talk to Palou. Palou said he never spoke with anyone, I know nothing about it. I spoke with his management. They don’t know anything about it. I don’t know anything about it. I think it’s a clickbait story. Someone has to freshen up their investigative journalism.
“Look, let me say this. Everyone wants a driver who wants everyone to have. That means you have something that is really valuable. Do I think Formula 1 is the biggest threat? You know what I think is the biggest threat, the biggest threat is ourselves, each of us is our biggest threat.
“I work to create the best possible environment for our people. It is the same for our drivers. I work to give them the best possible environment. That is all I know how to do. It seems to work. As I said, Alex had the chance to leave and he didn’t do it.
When asked for the left of the F1 side, a spokesperson for the Red Bull team said that there was “no truth in it”, but Spanish media mainly wanted to ask about the potential capacity of Palou with a more set team, instead of a new start-up.
“It’s certainly a challenge,” said Fernando Alonso. “There are established drivers and teams here and circuits and things like this, but he has the talent and he has the level to adjust very quickly.
“In the end it depends on which car you have. If you are at the back of the grid, it seems that you do not adapt to the category and you are struggling with certain things and you make more mistakes because you try to overcome them, your overdrive sometimes. And if you are in a fast car, everything is a little easier.
“I don’t know. I’m sure he is a Formula 1 level (director) and if he has the chance, I will be very happy for him.”
After Palou’s Indy 500 success, Carlos Sainz said he was intrigued to see how Palou would do it in F1 machines. But in the midst of the latest entries of the name of the four-fold Indycar champion, Sainz was more careful to assess how he would perform at Red Bull.
“I can only say what I see in the car is that he does an incredible job,” said Sainz. “Then F1 is a completely different sample, both as a driver and a car. But if a formula (it) is very different from something else, so it is impossible to predict how good it would be in Formula 1.
“I can only say that he just does incredible things in the car. He has to do things very, very well to dominate the way he dominates in such a competitive category.”
Despite both Alonso and Sainz, warned of the challenge of changing categories, there was a recognition of the latter that the change instructions in 2026 offer a chance for a more level playing field for an Indycar driver.
“It’s absolutely better to come when it’s a reset for everyone,” Sainz added. “It is a good time to become a member of the field because this year you have seen how difficult it has been for teammates who have already been to F1, when you have a new car or a new team, how difficult it is to adjust.
“Not so much because of how difficult the car is to drive or how different it is, but because your teammate knows the car really well, the team knows very well, and it is your reference and you have to match at least.
“It is difficult to do that if they have already had three or four years of experience with that car and that team, to jump in immediately and to match that. Certainly if there is regulations, that all changes, or half of it, and the teammate knows the people but the car does not know, does not know that the set -up does not know the engine does not know the engine.
“It is certainly a larger reset, so it would be a good time to become a member of F1 if you come from outside, because at least everything is new. And probably also next year’s cars will be slower, mentally more demanding but less physical.”
A driver manager was of the opinion that the last rumor could have been planted by Indycar to let F1 talk at the end of a dominant season, and if that theory was actually the case, it certainly worked. Because on this occasion not only the Spanish drivers were interviewed about Palou. Max Verstappen was also included in the conversation during his home race.
“It’s always so hard to say,” said Verstappen. “I already know Alex from go-karting times, and I think what he achieves in Indycar is incredible.
“It is so impressive to see, but it is impossible to know how people will do it in F1 and it‘s The same question the other way around – how would you do it in Indycar? You have no idea. So for me, it‘Sa bit a waste of time to try to debate that.
“I‘I am just so happy to see him do so well in Indycar and the way he dominates. ‘
Again, indeed a lot of praise for a driver who compiles a remarkable series of success in Indycar. Just don’t expect you to see it in a Red Bull next year.
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