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Scott McLaughlin, who is one of the favorites to contend for the 2025 IndyCar championship, has revealed his plan to dethrone 3-time and defending champ Alex Palou.
Palou has been mostly dominating the IndyCar grid since 2021, his second year in the American series. Apart from 2022, when he finished fifth in the standings, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won three of the last four seasons. However, going into 2025, McLaughlin is tipped by many to be the series' next big thing.
The Team Penske driver has been on a consistently upward graph since his debut in 2021. He recorded a career-best season last year, with eight podiums that included three victories. His non-podium results, however, fell out of the Top 15 several times. Contrastingly, Palou had 14 top five finishes, including seven podiums.
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Appearing on the Pit Pass Indy podcast, McLaughlin explained how emulating Palou is his only way to edge past him.
"Just consistency... do what he does," the Aussie said when asked about his plan to beat Palou. "Ultimately, he is very consistent, he makes very few mistakes and is rapid fast on most tracks. So we've been working hard to be better and be in some ways like him. At the same time, I think we're very much equipped to be able to tackle him and make it happen. (Need a) little bit of lady luck and consistency on my side."
Scott McLaughlin's IndyCar career is turning out to be a spitting image of his Supercars career, where he won three consecutive championships (2018 to 2020) after consistently improving each season.
The Aussie recently competed in the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 25-26 with Trackhouse by TF Sport and finished ninth in the GTD Pro Class driving the No. 91 Corvette.
Scott McLaughlin values an Indy 500 win more than an IndyCar championship
The Indy 500 is the premier event of the IndyCar calendar. It is a crucial part of motorsport's triple crown and for that reason, the drivers that have won championships but not the "Greatest Spectacle of Racing" often feel their career achievements are incomplete.
Scott McLaughlin, who became the fastest pole-sitter ever at the Indy 500 last year, but eventually finished sixth, revealed how a victory there matters more than an IndyCar championship.
When host Bruce Martin of the Pit Pass Indy podcast highlighted the pride and glory that accompanied Josef Newgarden's consecutive victories at the Brickyard and how it showed the event's value might be more than a championship, McLaughlin said:
"For sure, and that's probably why I put it above a championship in some ways. I'm very privileged to even have the opportunity to be a part of it and to have a car that can potentially win it. I've just gotta put it together. So we'll be okay."
Scott McLaughlin was Team Penske's best driver in 2024. He finished third in the standings while teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden secured fourth and eighth respectively.
