“I thought it was better just to focus on IndyCar”: When Alex Palou shared his thoughts on F1 opportunities

Alex Palou is one of the few IndyCar drivers who have been linked with an F1 opportunity in recent times. McLaren F1 was one of the teams linked with him and while he currently finds himself in a lawsuit against the team, back in 2023, he talked about focusing mainly on IndyCar.

During the mid-part of 2022, Alex Palou was in a tussle with his current employer, Chip Ganassi Racing. He was trying to get out of his contract to join McLaren, but ultimately, he wasn't allowed to move.

Following the whole situation, Autoweek had an interaction with Palou ahead of IndyCar's Acura Grand Prix about F1 opportunities, and in line with this, he added:

"I'm doing Miami (Grand Prix as a reserve driver) and then doing the rest of the (F1) races once IndyCar is done. I had obviously the chance to go to more races (in F1) but I thought it was better just to focus on IndyCar and once that's done go to F1 races. So yeah, that's a plan. It's going to be a busy year. But super exciting as well." Palou said via Autoweek.

The 27-year-old is still driving for the Chip Ganassi Racing team and in the 2024 IndyCar season, he went on to amass his third drivers' championship.

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Alex Palou deemed his McLaren F1 outings as 'amazing'

While Alex Palou was not sort of pushed into sticking to IndyCar, he made three appearances for McLaren F1. Moreover, one of the outings came in Free Practice of the United States Grand Prix (Circuit of the Americas).

When Autoweek asked Palou about his experience of driving an F1 machinery in 2022, he had the following to say.

"It's awesome. It's amazing. It's the most advanced race car that there is in this world. So super-fast. Lots of downforce, lots of technology. Really fun to drive. I mean, power-wise, F1, it's a lot more. We're a spec series in IndyCar. So obviously, we don't need to find more power and more power, like, the power, it stays always the same," Palou via the aforementioned source.

Alex Palou is one of the hottest drivers in the highest class of open-wheel racing in America. He has so far competed in 81 Grands Prix and has secured 12 wins, 32 podiums, and eight pole positions, alongside his three world titles.

Going into the 2025 season of the sport, he is one of the favorites to once again lift the trophy by the end of the campaign. However, top drivers like Colton Herta, Will Power, and, Josef Newgarden will not make it easy for Palou to repeat his heroics from last year. Everyone associated with IndyCar could be in for an extremely tight 2025 title fight.