Colton Herta makes surprising revelation about Alex Palou's Thermal Club IndyCar win

Colton Herta has revealed an interesting detail regarding Alex Palou's performance at the Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix. The three-time champion won the inaugural race at the Thermal Club on Sunday after starting third on the grid.

Pole-sitter Pato O'Ward led most of the race (51 out of 65 laps) before Palou snatched it with over 10 laps to go. He extended his lead to over 10 seconds before crossing the finish line first.

Colton Herta, who recorded his first Top 5 result of the season with a P4 finish, revealed how Andretti Global had predicted Palou would win the race after seeing his dominant performance at the non-championship race at the Thermal Club in 2024.

"If you look at last year, we kind of circled this one, like I expect him (Palou) to win here," Herta said via IndyCar. "In the win-loss column, it's not that big of a hurtful thing now. It sucks to give up that chance of winning St. Pete, but I'm just happy that we're able to fight back. Long Beach is a good place for us."

Herta had finished fourth in last year's non-championship race called the $1 million challenge. He replicated the result on Sunday despite Andretti Global not having the fastest car at the 3.067-mile Thermal circuit. The team tested its 2025 cars at the circuit before the season began, which gave them a slight edge over its rivals during the race.

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Colton Herta "can't complain" about Thermal Club IndyCar result despite being out of victory contention

INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Day 2 - Source: Getty

Colton Herta's 2025 IndyCar season got off to a horrid start. The No. 26 Andretti Global driver was in victory contention until lap 34, when a botched pit stop made him lose a great chunk of time, and he eventually finished in P16, while teammate Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson secured P5 and P6.

As a result, their car not having enough pace for a podium at the Thermal Club GP didn't faze him. Herta was satisfied with his P4 finish.

"I think that’s probably the max we could have built for. I don’t think we were good enough to get on the podium," he said via Indyar. "Unfortunately, the McLarens and (Alex) Palou seemed a little bit faster than us. It's frustrating not to be able to fight for that win but really can’t complain about a top five."

Colton Herta earned 32 points for his P4 finish, bumping him up to eighth in the championship standings. While teammate Kyle Kirkwood finished in P8, having started there, Andretti Global's third driver Marcus Ericsson had a terrible race. He spun twice throughout the 65-lap race and finished in P21.