Alex Palou lets his feelings known after coming up short against Michael Andretti’s IndyCar talent
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou has made his feelings known after missing out on pole position to Kyle Kirkwood at the 50th ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach. Palou will be third on the grid for the race on Sunday, April 13.
Kirkwood will lead the Honda-powered cars on Sunday. His teammate, Colton Herta, will line up next to him to complete the Andretti lockout. They are followed by defending champion Palou in third place, last year's pole-sitter Felix Rosenquist in fourth, while Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global wrapped up the top five for qualifying.
While talking to Speedway Digest after the qualifying session, Alex Palou discussed the fight they'll have to put up on Sunday and decide on a strategy for the race.
"Not number one today, but P3 for tomorrow. It's a top five with all Honda; that's pretty amazing. It's a solid qualifying for us. You always want more, and we felt like we were going to be fighting a little bit more, but it was good! It was fun out there and to fight. We just missed it a little bit. Great job by Honda locking out the top five, and for us, starting third, it's a great opportunity to decide on a strategy and have a clean race and move up. The #10 DHL Honda has been amazing, so hopefully, we can get the win tomorrow," Palou said.
Alex Palou posted a lap of 1:06.6254 to claim third place for Sunday's race. He has won the season's first two races without a front-row start. Palou started the race at St. Petersburg, held on March 2, in eighth place and finished first, while at the Thermal Club Grand Prix on March 23, he qualified in third place and took the win.
Alex Palou will look forward to making it a three-peat and extending his lead in the drivers' championship.
Alex Palou speaks about his chances of entering Formula One
The connection between Alex Paulo and Formula One goes way back. Palou had previously signed a contract with McLaren. But he decided to leave the team as soon as he realized he had no chance of getting a Formula One seat with McLaren, which led to a breach of contract. He got involved in a legal dispute with McLaren, which is yet to be resolved. Having said that, the Spaniard recently expressed how he is not keen on getting into the pinnacle of motor racing.
Palou briefly drove for McLaren's F1 team as a reserve driver in 2022, along with signing a contract as their IndyCar driver. However, as soon as the Woking-based team signed Oscar Piastri, Palou decided to look for other ways to enter F1.
But all his efforts went in vain as he couldn't find a team to enter F1 with. He wrote in Soy Motor that he is no longer interested in F1 racing but wants to stay with IndyCar.
"There's a lot of talk on social media, but I think we've perhaps already passed the stage of trying to get a foothold in Formula 1. It didn't work out...The truth is, there's nothing. There isn't any conversation, nor has there ever been," he wrote.
"Perhaps the good results I'm having in IndyCar would have meant a little more than they do now if I had had them eight years ago, when I was 20. What I know is that I'm very happy in the United States and in IndyCar. I can't complain about anything, and I don't lack anything," Alex Palou added.
Palou is having a fantastic 2025 season with two wins from two races and is atop the drivers' championship.