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Defending IndyCar champion Alex Palou opened up on his expectations from the 2025 season during the unveiling of his No. 10 car's new livery. Chip Ganassi Racing and its main sponsor, DHL, revealed the striking new yellow and red livery on Wednesday, January 29.
Palou goes into the 2025 season on the back of two consecutive IndyCar championships with CGR. His 2024 title run, however, wasn't as dominant as the year before that. In 2023, the Spaniard took a series-high 5 victories to win his second championship by 78 points. Though he took 3 poles in 2024, he only won twice to take the title by 31 points ahead of Colton Herta.
Only three drivers in IndyCar history have won three or more consecutive championships - Ted Horn (1946-48), Sebastien Bourdais (2004-07), and Dario Franchitti (2009-11). Alex Palou, aiming to join this exclusive list, expects a bigger challenge with his rivals further closing in this season. He said via IndyCar:
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"I’m looking forward to the 2025 season with the No. 10 DHL Honda team. The competition will be tough. We won the last championship with only two wins, so that shows how competitive it is in INDYCAR. The goal is to try and repeat that, improve a bit, and try to win the Indianapolis 500."
The new livery on Palou's No. 10 car features more prominent yellow areas and bigger DHL branding, cementing their presence with IndyCar's man of the moment. FOX Sports' second IndyCar promo featuring Palou was released this week and documented his unparalleled journey, albeit with hilarious twists.
Alex Palou weighs the importance of winning the Indy 500 versus a third consecutive IndyCar title
There have been many drivers in IndyCar history who have won the IndyCar championship but not its premier event, the Indy 500, and vice versa. Until 2023, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden belonged to that category, having won two titles, but not the "Greatest Spectacle of Racing". Only when he won it and made it two in a row did he say he felt accomplished.
That brings the question - does defending champion Alex Palou feel the same way? During IndyCar's content days, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was asked about his choice between winning a third consecutive title in 2025 versus winning the Indy 500.
"I don't know. It's tough. I want to win the Indy 500 so bad. I know what it is, but I don't think anybody knows exactly how big it is until you win it. At least that's what I heard from the drivers, and you can see it from outside.But winning three INDYCAR championships in a row is pretty sweet, as well. Probably I would say the three championships in a row and then win the Indy 500 in 2026, which that's -- to your equation, that works. I would do that," he said via IndyCar.
Alex Palou remains one of the favorites to win the 2025 IndyCar championship. The other main contenders include Andretti Global's Colton Herta, Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin, and Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward.
