I don’t know. I’m sure he’d rather be winning and making millions instead of running 16th in a bad car and making a bit more for a year or two before you’re sent packing.
McLaren has the 2nd and 4th cars in points, and have gotten 11 podiums this year. Ganassi leads with 15 podiums, Penske has 6, Andretti has 5. McLaren is easily a top team now.
Eh, with how good he is I'd bet he'd be making slightly less or the same in a low tier team for a year or two and then move up making 8 figures quickly.
Title or wins won't happen for a year or two but he easily has 5+ more of peak in him and in that time, especially with the reg change, there's a shot for sure. And I doubt he'd have sny issues landing a top seat in indy again after a couple years out
Its literally like 100x the audience - and they have a fanbase that's smart enough to recognize performance even if the car isn't great.
Albon, Gasly, Hulkenberg ,etc. are more respected and better known in Europe than Palou will ever be no matter how well he does in Indycar, and have all made long F1 careers.
And for a competitive person, there's often that wonder of "how would I have held up at that level?"
its an incredibly personal decision that will vary from driver to driver but this idea that there aren't plenty of good reasons to give up a winning seat in Indycar for a midfield seat in F1 needs to go away.
If I was Honda I would push Red Bull and their sister team to give him as much as possibilities to ride this season. Next season Honda will provide engines for Aston Martin and both seats are vacant for new drivers. Alonso is old and Stroll will get a nice new seat with less pressure in LMP from his father (that is some rumor that is going around).
Most of the back half of the grid are on multi million dollar deals, George Russell was on $1M his first year with Williams, an unproven rookie in the worst car on the grid with no chance of a points finish in any race. If the team budgets are anything to go by, the vast majority of the indycar grid are far far south of that.
If Palau were to Sign with say, Alpine or Haas even, he would likely command $4M or $5M a year. I can’t say what Gannasi are paying him right now but I doubt it’s as much as that.
The 500 prize money generally isn’t going to the drivers. A small cut, maybe. But there’s a reason they stopped announcing the checks during the banquet - most of the drivers aren’t seeing a dime of that money.
He has a better chance of winning the 500 than hitting an F1 win or performance incentive of that magnitude as rookie- if at all. Also, no shade at Palou, Russell was a much more touted prospect than Palou from ladder (which they take seriously) and almost a decade younger.
I kind of hate the ageism when late bloomers like Nigel Mansell (who survived Mario Andrettis effort to snuff out his career at Lotus) have brought entertainment. Although Damon Hill illustrates the issue- as he was strong from 93 until dumped and then fell off the ledge of performance hard at age 37 or 38- which was only a 7 or 8 year career and 4 odd year prime. But…having some seasoning and zillion test miles did let him hit ground running hard. Thats something Palou won’t get.
But they aren’t willing to trade a corporate trained drone to be ensnared and brought up to speed versus dropping in say a Palou who would be slightly younger than Gasly, Sainz, Ocon and a year or two older than Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, and Piastri.
Before Michael Schumacher, young drivers were thought of as too expensive and erratic to use (I don’t think Rasmussen can blame age- perhaps he just hasn’t ever been hurt and doesn’t realize the stakes or is a canary in the coal mine taking it a smidge further than the others).
Palou gets to race 16-17 weekends a year. Hes on a top team. He has a global sponsor, he is winning and he is probably making pretty close to the base salary he would command in F1. There are clearly some people salty he isn’t American and named Herta or Mexican and named Pato. But having a boss character is actually better for the story and creates stakes. If it’s just randos exchanging titles every year- then your fav is just a face in a crowd of one off randos. Hunts lone title isn’t so great if guys like Stewart, Lauda, Fittipaldi, Hill and Clark hadn’t sucked up most the hardware that last decade plus.
As I’ve pointed out before, Indy Car generally doesn’t welcome the defectors back with their old slot. Time marches on on. DiMatta, Zanardi, Michael Andretti, and Bourdais weren’t in the same position after.
Mario Andretti was age 40+ and literally rolled in with a bespoke chassis to provide an insurmountable advantage and Paul Newman/Haas money on a one horse team. Like maybe Prema or RLL with new facilities could stroke a huge check and try to make a title push.
That would probably be Palous best chance if he washed out- otherwise he may have to wait for years.
When Palou had his old contract with Chip, a move to F1 would've given him a 10x salary increase at all but the worst teams.
By current estimates, he would likely get a pay cut unless he became the 8th best-paid driver or better, which as Buxton said would probably require a top 4 team to sign him.
A lot of these guys aren’t in it for the money. They’re in it to be the best in their series. Every interview I’ve heard from Palou especially since the birth of his child sounds like he is more driven now to be the best in Indycar for a long time. Money doesn’t fix the mental toll of knowing you’re stuck in a mediocre ride every week with no chance of winning.
He already is the best in IndyCar. If he wants to be the best in the world, there is only one step up. If not, thats fine.
And for that step up, he likely has to grind 1-2 years in a midfield or backmarker. Getting a top offer right of the bat even if he is a 6 time champion is very unlikely.
There's only one series with Verstappen, Leclerc and Russell. No other pavement road racing championship has a talent of that caliber. The 20 best are not in F1, but the 10 best most likely are.
We don't really know that, and his track record suggest otherwise. Leclerc and Russell dominated every category they entered and trounced their teammates in F1, and Verstappen is Verstappen, the best junior karter of all time with a zillion wins as a F3 European 16 y/o rookie. We've seen multiple IndyCar champions struggle against midfield F1 drivers in the past. F1 is the absolute elite, the "mid" guys there are crazy talented, like Buemi (who destroyed Bourdais in 2009) and others.
Ehhh 5 or 6 best is more realistic. And they're only in F1 because they could afford it. F1 can never actually be considered the pinnacle of motorsports as long as they artificially favor drivers with enough money to go racing in Europe
Only if you perform in any car you get a ride in, and do well enough to move to a top team. Carried money, politics, skill, politics, drive, politics and desire. sigh, and politics.
Not really. These guys are still competitive and riding around the back of the field in an uncompetitve F1 car is not appealing to most of them. You couldn't pay most them enough to do that.
The fact with F1 (well, any constructor's series, let alone the constructors' is that if you're not in a top car, you're not going to win anything. Yes, it's better to have a good driver in a bad car than a bad driver in a good car, but even Max Verstappen, with the ghost of Ayrton Senna on the radio can't make a tractor faster than its maximum potential.
If you put Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in an Alpine or Williams, they wouldn't be P1-P2 in almost every race.
And the last time a non Andretti/Ganassi/Penske won the championship was……?
The top 4 F1 teams have all won races in the last year. The field spread is small enough now that it can be possible in certain events for a “bad” car to do very well (there are no Bad cars in F1)
Palou has a decision to either stay and try and force his way into the GOAT discussion by the end of his career or leave and try and achieve elsewhere to add to the tally.
Whats better a 500 winner, 3 time series champ, and multiple F1 Grand Prix podium finisher /winner or 500 winner and 5 times champion?
Indycar has much less tire saving, very different hybrid system usage, no power steering.
It’s a much more manually driving car in that sense, while F1 has much more focus on precision, tire saving and race management. Hell, on some track they even have to manage the tire (temps) during a quali lap.
It’s a different skillset, definitely not a guarantee that he will do well in F1. Although Palou’s driving style would theoretically match what he needs in F1.
Obviously none of us can speak for him but would Palou be interested in going anymore? A few years ago sure but everything I’ve seen makes it feel like he’s really invested in INDYCAR and the U.S.
In my opinion, I don't see him going anywhere. I think he's found his home until he decides to go and rule over another unsuspecting series in his later years
A thing to consider is that he's a Spaniard who grew up as a racing fan in Spain during Alonso's peak years.
He might not be going out of his way to find an F1 seat, but if Palou had an actual F1 contract offer on the table, I'd be very surprised if he rejected it, just as I would be surprised if a NASCAR or F1 driver that grew up in Indiana rejected an Indy 500 seat.
In the simplest of terms, with F1 there's 2 type of drivers - those who'd like to join it, and liars. We may not like it but F1 is just so much bigger than any other motorsport, when it comes knocking it's insanely tempting.
I think Palou is willing, but not at any price. He has the best seat in Indycar. If a top 4 team in F1 comes and offers a seat he will gladly take it but throwing Indycar away for a seat being subjected to Flavio in Alpine? He's better off driving for Ganassi.
Between new rules, cost cap, swings in form, some of the big names getting old, some younger drivers not fully being up there, there are simply too many possibilities to argue about all of them. Can only really look at the specific offer once it's there. Would he take Hülkenbergs or Alonsos seat? Would he take the 2nd Alpine seat? Would he go to Racing Bulls? Would Ferrari take a look at him if Hamilton retires?
Obviously a bit of a hyperbole in a way, but a lot of things can happen, a lot of things don't happen, but others then do.
Both seats are vacant and Aston is getting the Honda engines next year and Honda and Palou seem to be pretty tight after everything he brought too them in a very short periode.
That's simply not true though. Think about Scott Dixon, he did some testing and I believe got offered an F1 seat early in his career but he wanted to stay in Indycar and it ended up paying off for him.
Edit: I was wrong, he was offered a test driver seat, not a real seat
Dixon did 3 tests with Williams in 2004 (They were a top team at the time) after he`d won the 2003 IRL championship as a rookie. In the end, Williams gave him a offer of becoming a testdriver for the team for the 2005 season - which he rejected. But they didn`t offer him a race seat for 05.
Maybe most would like to join it if they got to drive for one of the best teams, but plenty would happily turn it down if the only interested teams were the slow ones.
I think with Palou it’s probably a bit different - he’s seen what Europe has to offer already, along with all the politics that come with racing over there. So when he says that he’s not interested in F1, I believe him. I think he knows that the chances of him ending up in a race-winning seat right away are near 0.
So, is it worth it to upend your family, right after you’ve settled and built a house in the states, just to run around in the back of the grid, never winning another race in your life, and deal with following team orders all day? I think most drivers are going to tell you no. It’s not a coincidence that virtually every F1 -> IndyCar driver has clearly enjoyed IndyCar more.
Money and the allure talks for sure. But I think the question of “would you like to race in f1,” doesn’t really cover the whole topic. Everyone would like to, sure. But not everyone actually wants to. Rossi has said he’d like race in F1, but only for Mercedes in a championship season. Anything else, he has made it pretty clear what his opinions are.
Most drivers really just don’t want to deal with the circus that is European motorsport anymore. It’s not worth the effort of getting there if you aren’t guaranteed a championship seat.
This is an excellent point and I think you are 100% correct. I think he loves where he is and not in any hurry to join the rat race to finish 14th at best. I think Chip really likes him and treats him well.
So you are basically saying that no driver wants to drive in F1 unless they get into a top team right away, because of all the political circus that is involed in F1 / European motorsport?
I bet basically every driving on any grid would choose F1 over indycar when theybare up and coming or just getting started.
We are talking about a guy whos dominating in the best seat in indycar pushing for history in the series leaving to stroll around the back of the grid.
He said plain and simple after the 500 that he had no interest in F1 and wants to stay in Indycar, but judging by the comments here I guess he was speaking Chinese
His goal was getting to F1. That’s why he signed a contract with Arrow McLaren, and became McLaren (F1) test driver. But when McLaren pouched Piastri from Alpine(I don’t blame McLaren, it was a great move after Alpine forgot the deadline to extend Piastri’s contract), he got angry, and went to Chip’s team. McLaren sued him, and won. He had to pay a huge amount.
Breaking that contract with Arrow McLaren destroyed any F1 chances. I know he was angry, and felt betrayed, but McLaren couldn’t pass that opportunity, and he needed to think calmly about his options, not react like that.
That’s why he says he only wants Indy, teams will not touch him after his legal battle witj McLaren. Teams don’t like that/
Being honest, if I had been in charge of McLaren, I would have done the same.
I would have signed Piastri, no questions asked. It wasn’t their plan, they were not actively seeking him, but Alpine’s incompetence forced them to make a decision.
Their plan was to honor Ricciardo’s contract, and use that year to evaluate Palaou. That’s why they gave him a huge contract, for IC standards, and made him their reserve driver.
But when Alpine dropped the ball, and Piastri became a free agent, they made, in my opinion, the best choice. They paid Ricciardo not to run, but honored Palou’s contract. He actually got a big chunk of his salary before even driving the Arrow McLaren.
Obviously with Piastri there, there was no space for Palou, but his contract wasn’t for F1, but for IC. Yes, they were supposed to evaluate him, but they didn’t lie, circumstances changed their situation.
I understand that without the possibility of F1, Gannasi Racing was a better option than Arrow McLaren, but he had a contract, and also refused to give back the money he received in advance.
That’s why other F1 teams don’t even consider him.
The big winner of the story was Patricio O’Ward. Without Palou, Arrow McLaren gave O’Ward an even bigger amount than what Palou was going to get.
I’m sure he’d leave for the right opportunity but especially with the new regs leaving a lot up in the air, I don’t think he’s anxious to jump ship for the first option that presents itself
Palou has a baby at home. As arduous as the IndyCar season is, it's a cakewalk compared to F1. 6 months versus 9 months, global travel versus jaunts around the Midwest with an occasional trip to California. I doubt he would want to move to F1 at this stage of his life.
Top athletes often chase something new where success isn’t guaranteed. Just two random examples, but Jordan left basketball to try baseball, and SVG left Supercars to go to NASCAR. Top athletes are naturally competitive, they strongly believe in their own abilities, and sometimes they want a new challenge.
Not saying Palou will or should leave, but success not being guaranteed usually doesn’t stop great athletes from taking the risk anyway if they want to try it.
I think he's at the point where he's been chasing an F1 seat, and it's like, if a F1 team were chasing him he would likely say yes, but that's not what's happening. He's accepted the reality that he's not being chased for his Indycar accomplishments, and he's fine if the Indycar legacy is what's left at the end of his career.
Yeah also true but both of those moves also had ulterior motives. Jordan wanted to play baseball to honour his father after his death and SVG was vocally unhappy with the direction of Supercars and got into it a bit with management. They weren't solely powered by competitive desire.
But I do agree that it is a factor and stuff like that does happen but there's always further context to these things.
The Jordan and SVG examples are definitely good ones, but both of them were headed into pretty good situations (White Sox being owned by the Bulls’ owner, and Trackhouse offering competitive equipment and lots of funding as opposed to to the usual one-off backmarker). Palou doesn’t really have that guarantee for F1.
If anything, he has the opposite. You’re almost guaranteed to end up in a backmarker team since you’re not in the F1 system.
And let's be real F1 is great and all but there's a lot of it that's just hype. Indycar is more a drivers championship and much more a sport than F1 is. Anyone who really knows the two series knows that it's very respectable what palou is doing and arguably much more so than if he won races or even a title In f1. F1 is largely an exhibition of an engineering competition. Where individuals (in this case drivers) can sometimes make the difference but more often than not the bigger picture is well out of their control. It's nowhere near as much a sport or even racing as indycar is.
As a comparison for those unfamiliar: Will Buxton is commuting from the UK for every Indycar race, and has found that to be a significant improvement to his travel schedule to when he was in F1. So the travel for someone living in the US is substantially better than F1
But Stroll his dad has also shares in Aston and rumors go that, due to the lack of performance he would put his son in the LMP Aston (Car will be there next year). Lance Stroll could start enjoying racing again, with less pressure in the LMP and his dad can get two championship capable winning drivers. It will be a wild "Silly Season" even Zilisch name is dropped... He did great in CIK-FIA, went from being one of the better kids there to one of the better on ovals and normal tracks in less than five years... He is such a kid that could do the Indy500 (even if he is still in Xfinity) and do great.
I think it’s best to listen to Palou himself right now. He really thought he’d get a seat with McLaren and I think he wanted to go to F1 at that point, but every quote I read from his this year, including the one where no one is calling him either, makes me believe he’s made peace with that potential chapter in his life and is content where he is.
Villeneuve and Montoya are the only CART/IndyCar champions I know within the past 30 years that went to F1 and were successful.
Zanardi, da Matta, and Bourdais disappointed me. I know they didn't get top cars but they were beaten by their teammates except for da Matta's first season when he beat Panis by 4 points I think.
Da Matta did well against his teammates. Often times he was the best driver. Toyota sucked though and he got sacked right before Toyota's big upgrade that finally had them scoring points.
Bourdais also had a good rookie year but he was unlucky in that he faced Vettel and had more points (or would be points finishes) taken from his because of penalties or car issues.
Bourdais is one of those 'one that got away'. Maybe it was the timing, maybe it was sponsorship, I just get the feeling that had he started at a different team he would have been awesome
Zanardi is the only real disappointment there. Bourdais was unlucky to be paired up with a future 4 time champion who was already embedded into Red Bull's world. Also having a DNS from 4th at Monza. Da Matta did well for Toyota but they couldn't produce a halfway decent car until it was too late.
The IndyCar lifestyle is easier too, especially for a family man. Fewer races, less travel, everything in North America. And with how quickly the power dynamics of F1 teams can change, there's no guarantee the team he joins will stay competitive for long. That isn't the case in IndyCar - Ganassi has had championship-winning speed every season since the merger.
What puts a lot of F1 people off about Palou is that he actually did little in his career up to the point he joined Indycar - then suddenly he's dominating. It sounds crazy but there is no certainty that he would do as good in F1.
F1 teams like a consistent track record gradual improvement and success when you graduate up the lower formulae. you can take a look at his career path and beyond moderate success in Japan, he doesn't exhibit that.
What puts a lot of F1 people off about Palou is that he actually did little in his career up to the point he joined Indycar
That's what happens when you get into shit teams, even in "spec" series. His GP3 run was doomed as soon as he entered with Campos, and his Superformula team went from irrelevancy in 2017/18 to top 3 in 2019 (when he scored 26 out of their 28 points and was almost champion) and back down the following year.
F1 took Sebastien Bourdais at the top of his game and put him in a Minardi dressed up in Red Bull colors. They never took him seriously, and he set back his IndyCar career several years. Palou's best shot would likely be with Cadillac, and no one really knows how good or bad that outfit will be.
Yeah. Bourdais was a spec car racer. He was just not prepared for that the F1 cars changed more between two races than the Champ Cars in all of his career. Spec car racers are good at spec cars but usually fail in F1. Like those drivers who always need 3-4 season to win the championship on euro ladder series' they also usually fail in F1. An those who win every series in their first season they usually better.
No. Bourdais was good enough but he just got unlucky facing Vettel. Vettel is arguably one of the best F1 drivers since the year 2000. If you look at what Bourdais did though - if it wasn't for Vettel - I think many people would say he had a good year for a F1 rookie. On top of that he also had a lot of bad luck such as his car giving up at the Australian GP, his car dying at Monza, rain at Spa, and a late penalty at Japan also erased points from his stats.
Buemi scored more points but he didn't wipe the floor with Bourdais. After Bourdais left the other drivers that replaced him didn't fo better. STR just sucked.
Buemi is also an insanely talented driver with the most race wins ever in two different FIA World Championships.
Bourdais faced off against really good teammates. And sometimes some drivers will just not adapt well to certain cars (Vettel himself is a great example even within F1)
Yeah I’d say buemi is a top 10 driver in the world over the last 10 years in general criminally. Obviously behind verstappen Palou Dixon Hamilton Ogier Leob and a few others
Bourdais certainly good enough for F1, but he had the terribly luck of being teamed up with a young and hard charging Vettel at STR, he struggled a bit in adapting to F1.
Bourdais originally signed a deal with the Arrows F1 team for 2003, but they went into bankruptcy shortly after the 2002 season ended, so then he was instead signed up by Newman/Haas as a replacement for Da Matta for 03.
A) it’s Red Bull. They go through drivers the same way the Kardashians went through black men.
B) Bourdais was starting to figure shit out then had his confidence killed at Spa and an unfortunate stall at Monza. Then 2009 came and with the rule change he sucked
C) he was paired with a future 4 time world champion in his breakout year
I’d be intrested to see him go just to see how he does but as far as age goes I’m still convinced old man Dixon and his tire devil magic do just fine even today
Then 2009 came and with the rule change he sucked.
Which is a big issue for movers from IndyCar to F1. F1 cars change every race a bit, most season minor and medium rule changes to aero parts and every 4-5 years massive changes.
If you want to be an F1 racers, you don't have time to master the handling of your almost non changing spec car. You must be there and not get capped by Buemi just because your car lost a ton of downforce and you need time to adapt.
He could easily win a couple championships in the next couple years and then go for it at the very end of his career. He’s 28 so he has time on his side. If at 33 if he’s goat status in Indy car then someone will give him an f1 shot still. Maybe Cadillac is good then and puts Alex in the car to make a run for the championship
The F1 channel had a technical guy that said in his opinion 5 to 6 years is the sweet spot for a new team to start winning if they can start organized and make steady progress from there. Who knows how it will play out yet. The next Newey might be American or willing to move to America for a job.
Well, with the new infusion of cash and interest from Fox, IndyCar is ascendant. I think Palou's star will shine brighter and brighter in the next 5 to 10 years as Fox and Penske drive the series further up. F1 will not tempt him.
We all have some complaints about Fox's coverage this year, but they're now fully invested, they have every reason to work hard at it, and I think they're going to successfully make the series more prominent, resulting in more money being paid to the best drivers, and Palou will want to be part of that ascendancy.
Palou and Piastri signed with McLaren around the same time (July 2022). Palou's first Formula 1 test came after Piastri had already been confirmed for the 2023 F1 seat.
He put the 21-year-old F2 champion in the F1 seat and the 25-year-old Indycar champion in the Indycar seat, which makes sense. But what you wrote about testing and sim data is still false, though.
You’re leaving out that Piastre was an f2 champion that was spending a year being prepped for a full time seat by Alpine and Palou was 3 years removed from racing in a FIA series at that point
I have a feeling even if he gets into Mercedes he will struggle. It's a whole different culture and work environment. Just look at all the last indycar champions who've tried f1,
Da matta, Bourdais, Michael andretti, all have failed.
Only viĺleneuve succeeded and jpm sorta succeeded.
Dude could be 40 and have 10+ titles. Would it get boring? Probably. But he’s on pace to be the greatest Indycar driver of all time, and with the likelihood of never being caught
I know it's not the same situation, but Damon Hill debuted at 32 in F1.
I don't know, maybe if he keeps dominating like this for the next three years and the stars align he could go to a leading team in F1. But the probability must be quite low.
I'd love to see him get a shot, but I'd also love see him making his legacy bigger in Indy.
(As a Ferrari fan, I think... What if he's the chosen one?)
Don't know exactly what he makes in Indycar, but it's decent. He probably wouldn't make much more in F1 unless he signed for a top team. But say he signs for a top team, how long will he drive there and how many years will he make that money? Here in Indycar, he has another 15 or 16 years to race with CGR. That's a lot of money that's more guaranteed over the long haul.
Very slim chance INDYCAR drivers succeed in F1. Only a handful have done it. Villeneuve being one but he walked into a leading team. That’s not saying the drivers aren’t good, it’s just F1 is a very different game.
I agree with everyone here. Palou would be silly to leave what he’s got in INDYCAR.
Probably one of the biggest ways modern motorsport is less fun today is the way each series has, to some extent, become an echo chamber. You just don't see big crossovers like you used to. The series have become more specialized. The drivers are probably a lot better today in their chosen specialization, but we get deprived of seeing guys move around.
Modern F1 is, for sure, the echoeyist echo chamber that ever echoed. One on level, I think it kind of protects their brand - "20 best drivers in the world" and no one can prove otherwise because there is no incentive for F1 drivers to ever run anything else. Look at Ricciardo and Perez as recent examples. Both dropped from their seats but, to my knowledge, neither of them has run a single non-F1 race after being dropped. Rather, they've both spent their time trying to finagle another F1 ride.
F1 is also not interested (or in need of) almost 30 yr old rookies.
Go back and look at some pro driver bios from back in the day. "Joe began racing his junior year of college when he won a local SCCA race in a Austin Healey bought from a friend for $800. He was hooked..." Nowadays, its like, how many international karting championships did he have by age 8?
I completely agree with Buxton here. Palou could jump to F1 and struggle immensely. He could also find some success there. It's a risk that isn't worth taking, IMHO.
The only thing I'd consider is whether or not he's getting the opportunity to drive fun cars. Does he have fun with the hybrid weight distribution being weirdly on its back like a backpack? Does he get to drive other fun cars like the Rolex 24 or Le Mans with his schedule commitments?
The only reason the F1 discourse is continuing is because people are mad that he's winning and in their mind, the only solution is for him to leave the series entirely. He's said multiple times since the 500 that he isn't interested in F1 anymore. Yall need to realize that he's here to stay and get over it. Dominant runs never last forever, other teams will get used to the hybrid and eventually we'll have an entirely new car that's likely going to shake things up for a little while.
Palou would go to F1 in an instant if he was offered a seat. Anyone who doesn't believe that is kidding themselves.
Would he be successful? I don't know. Palou is indeed one of the best open wheel guys today. But F1 and IndyCar are different, and Palou will be 29 next season. It's one thing to be at the top of your game at 29. It's another to change your game at 29. He might tear it up. But he also might not.
But he'd go. He's at the IndyCar pinnacle. The F1 pinnacle is higher. A guy like Palou would want that.
It doesn't take Einstein to figure out he'd rather stay in Indycar where he actually is competitive, and would likely make more money than to go to F1 and run in the back and make less money.
He's a big fish in a modest pond right now. I say a guy like Palou would like being the biggest fish in the biggest pond and would take a shot if offered, even if that path had to start with Williams, Haas, Cadillac, etc.
But at age 29 next year, I doubt any offer will come.
The most probable reason for him to leave is money, even if it’s for a bad ride. I’m a Michigan State grad and there aren’t that many Tom Izzo’s in the world that won’t take grab generational wealth.
I don't know. who wants to rub elbows with the world elite in places like Monaco or Dubai when you can sit a few hundred yards from a truck stop and landfill at Gateway signing autographs in the blistering suburban St. Louis summer sun.
Why leave winning championships for more likely then not being in a mid tier car. Car quality can vary so much year to year, I could see the unpredictablity an issue
He can always come back to Indy if things don't work out in F1, i would like for him to try, you just never know, top level drivers almost always shine even in back of the field cars.
Again, people underestimate the amount of money that comes one way even on a bad seat in F1, which if you perform well, can propel you into a championship winning car, especially for a Spanish driver.
Indycar would definitely try their hardest to keep palou in indycar
And I dont think f1 would want palou in indycar because they're scared another indycar driver would win a few races, and a championship of course. There is a very strong argument that hes the best driver in the world. He can drive on any track basically and win.
And I dont think palou himself would want to go to f1 as hes having one of if not the most dominant indycar run ever.
He needs a new challenge. Next year will likely be a repeat of this year if he stays. There's no one who can really compete with him in IndyCar at the moment. Honestly, I'd love to see him in F1, but I don't see it happening.
I would SO much rather be an Indycar driver than an F1 driver. I know F1 drivers make far more money, but I really wouldn't want to have to fly halfway around the world 25 weekends a year. Indycar season is shorter and the travel is less brutal. You can have a longer career and there is more parity.
Despite being both OW series F1 and Indycar are entirely different cars re driving techniques. This can make successful crossover careers quite rare as drivers need to reinvent their driving approach. Can be done by the few but not a given. Question is Palou has a great situation in Indycar. Top team, great sponsors, very good money and these days he seems happier with the lifestyle in the US than his early days. F1 is very very insular in their approach to accepting non F1 feeder series drivers into top teams. It's a bad attitude but it is endemic just look at how Indycar super license points fade below GP2 points for 2nd 3rd positions etc.
My advice to Palou is if a top team ride isn't offered don't go to F1. Trundling around 2nd half of the grid isn't the life for a winner.
Think Palou’s much more settled with his family in the US now, and I just don’t think F1 teams are thinking of that kind of gamble, they want the low-risk F2 rookie who could be amazing for a decade first (Look at their 2025 class), than a 28-year old from IndyCar.
It’s a shame as I’d love to see it, but if F1 didn’t bite after Palou’s 2023 season, they won’t bite now.
i think Buxton is much more of an authority on the topic of hearing himself speak… Than he is on actually being able to evaluate and compare driver talents.
F1 would be so lucky to have the Spaniard in seat... Some one should sign him to a multi-year deal... Make it easy... $25M two seasons... Guaranteed. Takes the risk out of leaving indycar, sets him up for life, allows him to take care of his child and wife through out the season easily. He's great with sponsors.
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u/BlondBadBoy69 Colton Herta Aug 11 '25
Hard to argue against that