IndyCar expert breaks down how Alex Palou can benefit from the hybrid addition

IndyCar expert Nathan Brown has detailed how the former Indy 500 runner-up, Alex Palou, can benefit from the hybrid transition of the series. The championship debuted its new hybrid technology at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July 2024, with the Honda Indy 200 race.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is a three-time IndyCar champion and sits at the top of the leader board in 2025, winning two out of three races of the season. Owing to his seamless transition to the hybrid era technicalities, he is a favorite going into the Indy 500 next month.

Answering a self-posed question of who might celebrate at the top step of the podium, Brown favored the runners-up of past years: Alex Palou, who finished second to Hélio Castroneves in 2021, and Pato O'Ward, who has finished second twice, to Marcus Ericsson in 2022 and to Josef Newgarden in 2024.

The experience of tackling traffic and understanding of spots to make the lunge, combined with the hybrid package, which adds extra horsepower, will play a vital role in determining the winner, as per Brown in his archive.

"Because as Palou learned in 2021 and O’Ward the next couple of years, picking your spots, reading the traffic, and a perfect balance of patience and aggression are never more important than in those final 10 laps of the Indianapolis 500. Add in what almost amounts to a video game element into that calculus, and knowing precisely what the limit of the car is and what passes can stick can no longer dominate one’s brainwaves. They need to be second nature," he wrote.

However, Brown further clarified that the above analysis didn't mean that former IndyCar race-winners like Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Scott McLaughlin, Christian Lundgaard, or Felix Rosenqvist do not have a chance. The Greatest Spectacle of Racing, i.e. Indy 500, is scheduled for the fourth Sunday of May.

Alex Palou believes the hybrid assist is a 'big boost' for the Indy 500 but with a catch

Rolex 24 at Daytona - Source: Getty

Drivers, including Alex Palou, used the hybrid package for the first time in the Indy 500 at the open test. While a few drivers weren't ecstatic about the change, championship leader Alex Palou believed that it could be a game-changer but might not last long enough.

Last year, mid-way in 2024, IndyCar followed in Formula 1's footsteps to make a switch to hybrid power units. The decision gave drivers a significant boost in certain aspects, including instantaneous torque, resulting in hybrid assistance.

"For the race, it's actually a big boost. It just gives you enough that (if) you're in the lead, maybe you can keep it on the lead for one lap, then obviously you need to recharge. Probably you get passed then," said Palou, via asapsports.

"It's good enough that you can pass. You can pass when you're fourth to third or fifth to fourth, when the tires are good. Then when you have no tires, it's pretty tough," he mentioned adding a caveat.

Palou, who is the championship leader of the 2025 season, led the final session of Indy 500 open testing on April 24.