Álex Palou
Palou at the2024 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
Born	Álex Palou Montalbo (1997-04-01)1 April 1997 (age 28) Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Spouse	Esther Valle ​ (m. 2023)​
Children	1
IndyCar Series career
98 races run over 6 years
Team	No. 10 (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Best finish	1st (2021,2023,2024,2025)
First race	2020Genesys 300 (Texas)
Last race	2025Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix (Nashville Superspeedway)
First win	2021Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Birmingham)
Last win	2025Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (Laguna Seca)
Wins Podiums Poles 19 44 12
IMSA SportsCar Championship career
Debut season	2022
Current team	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	93
Former teams	Cadillac Racing
Starts	4
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	24th in2022
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2024
Teams	Cadillac-Ganassi
Best finish	7th(2024)
Class wins	0
Previous series
2019 2019 2018 2017 2017 2017 2015–2016 2014	Super Formula Super GT FIA F3 European FIA Formula 2 Formula V8 3.5 Japanese F3 GP3 Series Euroformula Open
Championship titles
IndyCar Series (2021,2023,2024,2025) Major victories Indianapolis 500 (2025)

Álex Palou Montalbo (Catalan pronunciation:[ˈaləksˈpalɔwmonˈtalbu];^[1] born 1 April 1997) is a Spanishracing driver who drives forChip Ganassi Racing in theIndyCar Series, where he won the2021,2023,2024, and2025 championships and the2025 Indianapolis 500. He is the first Spanish racing driver to wina national championship in American open-wheel racing history and also the first Spaniard to win in theGP3 Series and theIndianapolis 500.

Born inSant Antoni de Vilamajor, Palou begankarting in 2003.^[2] His achieved his onlyinternational title in theKF3 category of theWSK Euro Series in 2012,^[3] when he finished runner-up toGeorge Russell in theCIK-FIA European Championship.^[4]

Palou made hisopen-wheel racing debut competing in theEuroformula Open Championship withCampos Racing in2014.^[5] He bookended the season, winning the opening race at theNürburgring and the final race atCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He also won a race at the Hungaroring to finish third in the series standings, missing out on the runner-up placing by one point toArtur Janosz.^[6]

In2015, Palou graduated to the GP3 Series with Campos Racing. During the first half of the season, he suffered major reliability issues as well as some driving mistakes due to his lack of experience, but his results improved along the season and he closed the year with a victory in Abu Dhabi. At theCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya inSpain,^[7] Palou qualified fourth for the first race, but he slipped the clutch at the start and lost any opportunity to fight for the points. He made another bad start at the second race. At theRed Bull Ring inAustria,^[8] Palou had another bad weekend. Starting from third, he stalled the engine at the start. He later admitted he felt nervous after the mistakes from Barcelona and that that might have contributed to those new errors. He did not finish the second race because of a crash on the first lap.

At theSilverstone Circuit inGreat Britain,^[9] a gearbox sensor failed when Palou was driving fifth. He was forced to retire and subsequently had to start the second race from the last place on the grid. He managed to overtake eleven cars, eight of them in the first lap, to finish thirteenth. At theHungaroring inHungary,^[10] Palou started seventh and moved up to fifth until a car hit him from behind. He suffered a puncture and was forced to pit. Starting from the bottom of the grid for the second race, he wrapped up the weekend with an eighteenth place finish. At theSpa-Francorchamps Circuit inBelgium,^[11] Palou scored his first points in GP3 as the season passed its halfway point. Struggling with tyre wear and lack of speed, the Campos Racing driver finished in 7th place in the first race. He led most of the second race but eventually fell back to fifth because of the lack of top speed. He later argued that Esteban Ocon was scrapping 0,5 seconds per lap just in the first sector, where the Kemmel Straight was found.

At theAutodromo Nazionale di Monza^[12] inItaly, Palou had another difficult weekend because of the lack of top speed. Using the same engine he raced in Belgium, he managed to finish seventh in the first race and subsequently started the second one from the front row. He made "The Great Mistake" (as he wrote in his column) when during the warm-up lap he spun at the main straight and nearly hit the wall. Although his car was not damaged, he fell back to tenth. At theSochi Autodrom inRussia,^[13] Palou received a new engine that solved the top speed problems he suffered in Belgium and Italy. Because ofCarlos Sainz's crash duringRussian Grand Prix Free Practice 3, the first race of the weekend was moved to Sunday. Palou qualified just a tenth away from Pole Position and scored a provisional season-high in the first race when he crossed the line in fourth place. He was ninth in the second one. At theBahrain International Circuit,^[14] Palou suffered yet again more reliability issues. He started from fourth, but during the warm-up lap a gas sensor failed and the car kept on accelerating when the driver lifted the throttle. He decided to enter the pit lane and retire. Because of this, he started the second race from last place. He gained 14 positions, but ended up tenth and outside from the points.

At theYas Marina Circuit inAbu Dhabi,^[15] Palou won his race in GP3 and became the first Spanish driver to ever get a victory in the series. After being eighth in the first race, he held pole position for the second one. Worried about tyre wear, he targeted for a podium finish. He held the lead at the start and slowly started to pull away from the field. He crossed the line with a 4.4-second margin to Carlin's Antonio Fuoco. Palou continued to race for Campos Racing in his second season in GP3. He scored second place at the Silverstone sprint race and fifth place at the Yas Marina sprint race. He ranked 15th in the overall standings.

Palou also raced withTeo Martín Motorsport in three rounds of the2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship, where he won three poles and a race. This partial season earned him 10th in the championship. Palou finished 2017 withCampos Racing in twoFormula 2 rounds, where he scored five points. Palou led the majority of theJerez sprint race from the reverse grid pole, but ultimately, he could not hang on to the lead with his heavily worn tires and finished eighth. These two rounds finished him 21st in the championship.

In 2018, Palou returned to Europe full-time for a full season withHitech Bullfrog GP in the2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He scored seven podiums and ended the year seventh in the championship.

Palou moved to Japan in 2017 to compete inJapanese Formula 3 for Threebond withDrago Corse. He won three races but finished the year third in the championship behindMitsunori Takaboshi andSho Tsuboi.

Palou moved back to Japan in 2019 to compete full-time withMcLaren Customer Racing Japan in theSuper GT GT300 class andTCS Nakajima Racing inSuper Formula. In Super GT, Palou was partnered with2004 24 Hours of Le Mans winnerSeiji Ara. As a team, they scored one podium atAutopolis but ultimately finished fifteenth in the championship. In Super Formula, Palou had far more success. He won atFuji Speedway from pole position and, after qualifying on pole at the final round atSuzuka, he looked to be the championship favorite. A problem with the ventilation duct early in the race immensely slowed Palou's car down and he finished nineteenth in the race. This dropped him to third in the championship in the end.

Palou tested anIndyCar in July 2019 withDale Coyne Racing atMid-Ohio.^[16]

On 19 December 2019, it was announced that Palou would move to theIndyCar Series for a rookie campaign withDale Coyne Racing withTeam Goh.^[17] His manager in the IndyCar series is former IndyCar driverRoger Yasukawa.^[18]

In his first race for the team at the2020 Genesys 300 atTexas Motor Speedway he was taken out by fellow rookieRinus VeeKay. He took his first IndyCar podium atRoad America.

Palou was signed byChip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 10 Honda for the2021 IndyCar Series season.^[19] On 18 April 2021, Palou earned his maiden IndyCar Series victory in theseason-opening race atBarber Motorsports Park. Palou started on pole for the first time in his IndyCar career at the first race of the season atTexas Motor Speedway, although his pole position was earned due to his early-season championship point lead after qualifying was canceled for the race due to inclement weather.^[20] Palou added another podium for the season at theGMR Grand Prix and then finished second in the2021 Indianapolis 500 toHélio Castroneves' record-tying fourth victory. Palou's finish in the 500 vaulted him into the points lead for the championship. For the rest of the season, only himself andPato O'Ward would hold the points lead.

Palou then went on a run of podium finishes after the 500, although he briefly lost the points lead to O'Ward inDetroit by a single point. Palou finished third in the second race in Detroit, won at Road America afterJosef Newgarden suffered a gearbox failure, and finished third at Mid Ohio to solidify his points lead in the championship over bothScott Dixon and O'Ward.^[21] This was despite suffering three engine change related penalties imposed on him by IndyCar. He gave up the points lead to O'Ward after he and Dixon were collected in an accident caused byRinus VeeKay at Gateway but took it back after taking his first earned pole position and a third victory atPortland. After a second-place finish at Laguna Seca, Palou carried a thirty-five-point advantage over O'Ward heading into the final race of the season atLong Beach, with only himself, O'Ward, and Josef Newgarden still mathematically capable of winning the title. After O'Ward was knocked out in an accident on the first lap of the race Palou drove conservatively and finished in fourth place, winning his first IndyCar championship. He became the third Chip Ganassi Racing driver to win the IndyCar series championship after Dixon andDario Franchitti and the first Honda driver other than Dixon to win an IndyCar championship in theDallara DW12 and turbo V6 era of IndyCar racing.^[22] Palou also secured his first IndyCar track discipline championship in 2021, winning the Mario Andretti Cup as the season's highest-scoring driver on the road and street courses. For his Indianapolis Motor Speedway victory lap, he drove a chicken-themed limousine, in honor of his favorite after-victory meal of fried chicken.^[23]

Palou started the 2022 season out with podiums atSt. Petersburg, Long Beach, and Barber, outperforming his Chip Ganassi teammates and putting him in a strong early position to defend his title.^[24][25] The title would eventually be lost to Penske'sWill Power, but Palou still finished fifth (due to countback, as he tiedScott McLaughlin with 510 points) with a commanding win in the Laguna Seca finale to round out the year.

On 12 July 2022,Chip Ganassi Racing sent a press release saying that they had extended the contract of Palou for the 2023 IndyCar season by exercising the option they held on his deal. Included in the press release was a quote attributed to Palou.^[26] Hours later, Palou, via a thread onTwitter denounced this press release, claimed that the quote attributed to him was created by the team (a practice common among IndyCar teams, according toRACER.com's Marshall Pruett)^[27] and also not approved by him. He also stated that he had given Chip Ganassi Racing prior notice that he intended to leave the team after the 2022 season and joinMcLaren Racing's roster of drivers.^[28]

Moments after these tweets, McLaren announced that they had signed Palou to a contract for 2023, though it was not specifically mentioned if Palou would drive forArrow McLaren SP, McLaren's IndyCar operation.^[28][27] Chip Ganassi Racing responded to this by releasing a statement reiterating their claim to Palou's services.^[29] On 27 July 2022, Chip Ganassi Racing confirmed they had filed a civil lawsuit against Palou in Marion County, Indiana.^[30] On 14 September 2022, it was announced that an agreement had been reached by all parties that would see Palou continue with Chip Ganassi for the 2023 season, with McLaren signing him to test theMcLaren MCL35M.^[31][32] Palou was then set to switch to McLaren for the 2024 season.^[33] In August 2023, this arrangement fell apart after Palou told McLaren CEOZak Brown that he had "no intention of honoring his contract" with McLaren, according to Brown.^[33] Following this, McLaren Racing and Arrow McLaren sued Palou for nearly $23 million in the U.K. Commercial Court in an attempt to recoup investments made in Palou, including future sponsorship revenue tied to Palou joining McLaren, McLaren's cost when Palou was the test driver, the cost of finding a replacement for Palou, and Palou's $400,000 advanced 2024 salary.^[34][35][36] In his legal response, Palou admitted to breaching his contract with McLaren as he lost faith in McLaren's ability to land him a seat in Formula One, saying that he is too old to wait and see if someone gets hurt to get his chance.^[37]

Palou started his season strongly, picking up top five finishes in four of the first five races and winning theGMR Grand Prix leading up to the107th Indianapolis 500. During qualifying for the 500, Palou clinched the pole position with a new pole record speed of 234.217 mph, topping Scott Dixon's record set the previous year.^[38] Palou took his second victory of the season at theDetroit Grand Prix,^[39] and then won again at the following round inRoad America, followed by a third consecutive win at Mid-Ohio. By winning theGrand Prix of Portland, he clinched his second IndyCar title a race early.^[40]

Palou had another strong start to2024, finishing in the top five in eight of the first ten points scoring races, picking up wins on the IMS Road Course and at Laguna Seca, and taking an early points lead in the championship. Although Palou only secured two points paying wins on the season, he also won the$1 Million Challenge, a non-championship event. He used consistency throughout the rest of the season to topColton Herta, Will Power, andScott McLaughlin for his third IndyCar Series championship, becoming the first Indy car driver to win back to back championships sinceDario Franchitti did in 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Palou started the season with winning the first two rounds atSt. Petersburg andThermal. He later won three straight races in a row, withBarber,IMS Grand Prix, and theIndianapolis 500, becoming the first Spaniard to win the event and his first win on an oval. He later won atRoad America after passing teammateScott Dixon with 2 laps to go. AtMid-Ohio, Palou was leading Dixon by four seconds with six laps to go when he went off track, allowing Dixon to pass and take the win. Palou would win from pole atIowa in Race 2, as well asLaguna Seca. AfterPortland, Palou clinched his third consecutive series-title and fourth in his career and thus became the first IndyCar driver to won bothIndianapolis 500 and IndyCar overall drivers' championships in the same season sinceDario Franchitti in 2010.

In September 2022,McLaren announced that they had signed Palou to theirTesting of Previous Cars program that would see him test theMCL35M,^[41][42][43] first at theCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya,^[41][43] and later in October at theRed Bull Ring,^[44] both together withPato O'Ward. Palou made his debut in free practice with McLaren at the2022 United States Grand Prix.^[45] On his free practice debut, Palou called the F1 car "insane" and "capable of so much".^[46]

On 1 December 2022, McLaren announced Palou as a reserve driver for the2023 Formula One World Championship.^[47] He drove the MCL35M during a test at theHungaroring alongsideOscar Piastri.^[48]

Palou owns a team inEurocup-3 series called Palou Motorsport which currently fields six cars: the No. 3 driven by GermanLenny Ried, the No. 5 driven by Frenchman Luciano Morano, the No. 6 driven by New ZealanderZack Scoular, the No. 23 driven by Brazilian Alceu Feldmann Neto, the No. 26 driven by Brit Isaac Barashi and the No. 48 driven by AmericanJames Egozi. Palou Motorsport got three podiums in its debut season in 2023, all of them courtesy ofJavier Sagrera. In 2025, the team won three races over the course of the Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship and the main championship. All of those race wins were obtained by Egozi.

Palou competed in the2025 12 Hours of Sebring withMeyer Shank Racing in the GTP class.^[49]

On 4 December 2023, Palou and his wife Esther welcomed their first child.^[50]

^† As Palou was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish the race but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race	Ref
2017	ThreeBond Racing with Drago Corse	Dallara F314	21st	18th	11th	[51]
2018	B-Max Racing Team	Dallara F312	13th	12th	DNF	[52]

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key)

* Season still in progress.

• ¹Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2022	Cadillac Racing	Sébastien Bourdais Scott Dixon Renger van der Zande	Cadillac DPi-V.R	DPi	722	14th	7th
2024	Cadillac Racing	Sébastien Bourdais Scott Dixon Renger van der Zande	Cadillac V-Series.R	GTP	423	47th	10th
2025	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian	Kakunoshin Ohta Renger van der Zande Nick Yelloly	Acura ARX-06	GTP	741	14th	14th

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2024	Cadillac Racing	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	Hypercar	311	7th	7th

• Official website
• Álex Palou's columns of his first year in GP3
• Álex Palou career summary at DriverDB.com

• 1997 births
• Living people
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• Campos Racing drivers
• Caterham Racing drivers
• Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
• Dale Coyne Racing drivers
• Euroformula Open Championship drivers
• FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers
• FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers
• FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
• Ferrari Challenge drivers
• Fortec Motorsport drivers
• Hitech Grand Prix drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indianapolis 500 polesitters
• Indianapolis 500 winners
• IndyCar Series champions
• IndyCar Series drivers
• Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers
• Karting World Championship drivers
• Meyer Shank Racing drivers
• Nakajima Racing drivers
• People from Vallès Oriental
• Racing drivers from the Province of Barcelona
• Spanish GP3 Series drivers
• Spanish racing drivers
• Super Formula drivers
• Super GT drivers
• Team Goh Motorsports drivers
• Teo Martín Motorsport drivers
• WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
• World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
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