"It's funny to see how angry European F1 Twitter gets": IndyCar star Conor Daly calls out F1 fans for undermining Colton Herta and Alex Palou

Conor Daly has called out European F1 fans for downplaying Colton Herta and Alex Palou's potential comparability to F1 drivers. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver deemed the whole controversy funny as he claimed such netizens don't have any know-how of motorsports to comment on drivers' capabilities.

With the United States getting its second outfit on the F1 grid from the 2026 season, fans have wondered about who will fill the seats available at the newly formed Cadillac F1 team. While Colton Herta has topped the list most of the time due to his American background, F1 fans over X (formerly Twitter) have often reckoned that the Andretti driver is not up for the job.

Similarly, Alex Palou has also been battered on social media whenever his performance has been compared to any other driver in the European racing scene. Giving his perspective on the whole clash between fans over which driver is capable or not, Conor Daly said (via Youtube/Conor Daly):

"It's funny to see how angry European F1 Twitter gets when they put up graphics of Colton [Herta] or Alex [Palou] being in there, because people just have literally no respect or any care for anything other than Formula .1 They're like that's not even possible; they get so angry, it's awesome to see. I love it's my favorite thing to see because they truly have no idea, they truly don't know enough about motorsport in general to be making opinions like that." (7:50 onwards)

Daly is a veteran of the premier open-wheel racing series in the United States.

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Conor Daly opens up on the harsh side of motorsport

Conor Daly at the INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

Though the Indiana-born driver has raced for 11 teams in his IndyCar career, he was on the verge of not having a drive for the 2025 season. Juncos Hollinger Racing signed him up during the winter break.

However, his primary sponsor rejected his $3.5 million ask, which posed the risk that Conor Daly could lose his drive for the 2025 season. Revealing how the racing world has no mercy, the JHR driver said (via Autoweek):

"No one is willing to wait around, it seems, anymore. There are drivers on the outside looking in right now that shouldn't be, because it's like, ‘Well, some of the things didn't go great. You're gone.’ You just have to be aggressive with yourself. You have to be aggressive with the way you attack every weekend. It is just stressful. I wish it wasn't the way it was."

Daly finished the St. Petersburg Grand Prix in 17th. He will be hoping for a better weekend at Thermal Club a week later, on March 23.

The 33-year-old did not participate in the race last year and will make his debut around the track this year.