Alex Palou: “I don’t think too much about F1”

Alex Palou, 2021 IndyCar Championcurrent pilot of Chip Ganassi in the leading American single-seater series and a new name McLaren F1 reserve driver after arguing with Moving in F1 some tests and debut in Austin Free Training 1, talks about his future in IndyCar and his options to join F1. He did it this Wednesday at preview of the Report + ‘The 500 Miles of Alex Palou’ Movistar + he dedicated his incredible story (it opens this Thursday at 10:00 pm).

Alex came from living a very complicated course due to the contractual clash between McLaren and his IndyCar team, Chip Ganassi. In the end, everything was resolved in the best way for the Catalan and he wanted to leave his fans alone, making sure that “with Ganassi everything is fine”, showing that he will be able to fight everything to win the Indy500 and the championship this season.

In this sense, Alex was also asked if he thinks a lot about F1 and accepting the opportunity to join the highest category of world motorsport.

“I don’t think too much about F1. I obviously know that Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and that’s why I took the opportunity to join a team, even if it was as a test driver. But in at the same time, my job In the end it’s winning races. If I don’t win IndyCar, they won’t give me a chance in Formula 1,” he said.

“So I think I should have the same mentality: keep trying to win all the races. I’m happy to have tested Formula 1 for more than one day and I’ve learned a lot, and I’m going to learn more in 2023 , but I don’t mind if they give me a chance (to be an official F1 driver). As my father said, I’m at the “amusement park every day”. If there’s a bigger one. all right, if you give me entry at that time, I won’t refuse, but I don’t think about it and I think my ‘park’ is pretty good. I’m not saying it’s not Interesting, because otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to go as a test driver or third pilot, but I’m not focused on that,” he added.

“Now everything is fine, everything is great, it’s like nothing happened. Now I’ll be here until after Kings and then I’ll go to Indianapolis (where he lives). I won’t be in the Daytona 24 hours, which I love, it’s one of the best races there are. But we started tests in February and we will prepare there. We will be cold in Indianapolis in January and February but we have to start the season at the top and we have to prepare well physically”, he said regarding his maintained relationship with Ganassi after the mess of contracts that occurred last summer.

THE REPORT + BY ALEX PALOU

“It was amazing. I had seen some short clips but not the whole thing. The story is very well told and I am quite moved by it.”

HARD TIMES IN 2022 BECAUSE OF CONTRACTUAL MESS WITH MCLAREN AND CHIP GANASSI

“It was something difficult because it happened in the middle of the season. Things became serious in the United States but the truth is that everything finally summed up that it went well, that we continue with Chip Ganassi next year in IndyCar, I was in 3 McLaren F1 tests… I was able to test F1, because it’s true that as a driver you always feel that you want to at least try F1, so I got rid of that. And during the year “Next I will be a reserve driver in races that do not coincide with IndyCar. So I think I’ve got the best of both worlds and we’re going to learn and try to win another championship. .”

HIS F1 PREMIERE AT FP1 IN AUSTIN

“The whole team (McLaren) is very happy. In the end, I only had one hour with a car that I haven’t tested. I tested the 2021 car but it’s not the same and they have changed a lot. Everyone is happy.

Lando Norris

“I asked him about how everything was, especially before leaving. He told me he was doing very well.”

THE INDY500

“The next step is to win the 500 Miles. We have seen that they are complicated, that we have been there (twice fighting for the victory of the 3 in which he has competed) and then the championship. Everything else that comes will be welcome But we’re going to try to win races, which is what gets us to these places and these things, to better teams and better results. We’ll keep fighting.”

“Always 5 or 6 every year with the same choices and it’s true that the Indianapolis circuit ‘chooses’ you that day. We will continue to prepare it and be there fighting to win them.”

“I hope that the third time is the charm and I can win the 500 Miles in 2023. The only thing I can do is prepare them well, ride a good car and I feel comfortable and above all come prepared, especially in thinking” .

THE TWO INDY500S HE MISSED EVEN THERE (2021 AND 2022)

“Both are difficult. For different reasons. When you lose it, you get crushed a little bit later on with things I could have done differently, but in 2021 it’s the first time I’ve had a competitive car and a veteran as Casteoneves and I won them. It’s not that I was beaten by a rookie. And in 2022 I had one of the best cars or the best on the day of the race and you never know when you’ll get a chance like that, but I didn’t something has changed (he was hurt by a red traffic light in the untimely pit lane due to an accident while entering the pits).

IN THE UNITED STATES, MOST VALUED

“I’ve run more races outside of Europe than here and it’s normal. It’s not bad. It’s good. Good work is being done and more and more people are getting to know us.”

HIS CAREER, FROM JAPAN TO USA

“In the end, the objective was to live from this, whatever it was and how it was. That’s why I went to Japan and I was already very happy there, living a dream, but I did think that there is a step further like IndyCar and I are very happy with how it turned out.”

IT JUMPS FROM CATEGORY TO CATEGORY THANKS TO ITS GOOD TESTS

“I never heard from my father that I was ‘Mr Match ball’ (he told Report +). It was pretty well defined. It helped me. It didn’t stop me from going on but it prepared me more for at the moment, to take the pressure off even if it’s a one-day test. I went to Japan for a test, to Indy for a test and now I’m a McLaren reserve also for a test.”

MARIO ANDRETTI, GANASSI AND DIXON PRAISE HIM ON REPORT +

“I gave them a little envelope before shooting (laughs). I didn’t know who were in the documentary so it’s cool to have Dixon, Andretti and my team.”