
Three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou clearly has talent when it comes to competing in America’s open-wheel racing series — but would he have what it takes to compete in Formula 1?
Oliver Oakes, Alpine team boss, firmly believes Palou would be “very quick” were he ever offered a chance behind the wheel of F1 machinery.
Alex Palou could be “very quick” in F1
Over the past few years, Spanish racer Alex Palou has become an unstoppable force in IndyCar, powering his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to three championships with a level of finesse that is incredible to behold.
Unfortunately, Palou’s shot at Formula 1 has very likely passed by.
In 2022, CGR announced that it had re-signed Palou for 2023 — a fact that Palou hotly denied under a belief that he’d signed a contract with McLaren that would see him join the outfit’s IndyCar team with an eye to progressing into Formula 1.
What followed was a series of lawsuits and messy transactions. CGR took Palou to court to argue that its contract held precedence; the settlement of that suit saw Palou re-sign with CGR as intended. Then came McLaren’s lawsuit; the team alleged Palou owed them money, to the tune of around $23 million, for violating his contract.
Ultimately, Palou stuck it out in IndyCar, winning both the 2023 and 2024 titles with CGR, perhaps at risk of a possible Formula 1 career.
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Had Palou managed to make it to Formula 1, though, Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes believes the Spaniard would make an impression.
“I think he’d be quick, yeah,” he said on the Behind the Grid podcast. “Was he three-time IndyCar champion? I think he’d be very good, yeah.”
The comment came amidst a conversation in which Oakes shared his admiration for current IndyCar owner Roger Penske — a man who also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while running several successful businesses, dealerships, and global race teams.
If he were to be stuck in a lift with anyone, dead or alive, his choice was “easy.”
“Probably Roger Penske for me,” Oakes admitted.
“I think he’s a mix of a really successful racing team owner — several teams across the US: NASCAR, IndyCar, sports car. What’s he’s built [is] a brilliant racing organization.
“Never met him, only just from the outside looking in, and then also [the] successful business empire he’s built in tandem. And just the things you read on his own personal values; he bought Indianapolis and he’s there greeting fans at the gate. I think that’s exceptional.
“That’s more than just running an F1 team, winning World Championships in F1. He’s done the Holy Grail.”
After, Oakes admitted that after his first years in Formula BMW, he was “very close to going over to Indy Lights in the US.”
Indy Lights, now known as Indy NXT, serves as a feeder category to IndyCar; it is to IndyCar what Formula 2 is to F1.
That he didn’t make that swap is “a big regret,” Oakes admitted.
Still, he keeps an eye on what transpires in the US-based series.
“Obviously I follow a lot of IndyCar stuff now,” he said.
“Some drivers who’ve been in my team, Palou and [Marcus] Armstrong, who are over there now racing, and [Marcus] Ericsson’s a good mate of mine as well.”
If Oakes is paying attention, then it’s almost certain other F1 team personnel are, too — but after the Spaniard’s complex contractual fiasco, Palou’s time as an international open-wheel star may have come to an end.
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