Palou: “I have two good teams fighting me”

Alex Palou lived one of the most complicated experiences of his life in 2022. The 25-year-old driver from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor (April 1, 1997) found himself in the middle of a legal dispute between his team from IndyCar, Chip Ganassi, and McLarenwhich will finally be resolved in the best way for the Catalan pilot: he will continue to aspire to everything in IndyCar with Ganassiand at the same time can be a reserve pilot of McLaren F1, with whom he already made his debut in Free Practice 1 of the last United States GP. In the presentation of ‘Informe +’ in which he stars, titled ‘Alex Palou’s 500 Miles’ (it can be watched on the Movistar + platform), the young star spoke to Mundo Deportivo about the difficult 2022 campaign, everything he learned from it and his immediate future. Palou’s ‘Informe +’ recounts the many sacrifices his family made and the many ‘match balls’ he had to save to continue his dream until he became the IndyCar champion in 2021. Moments he always faces with remarkable -noticeable silence and optimism.

From his episode on ‘Informe +’, his optimism and how he always manages to come out of the toughest and most difficult moments needs to be highlighted. Do you always think that something better is coming?

I do not know. A lot of people tell me that and I didn’t realize it until three or four years ago. I think when I was in Japan. I guess it’s because of the hard times I’ve been through in my career, where I’ve been so close to the end or the end of those stages, and that has always helped me to be stronger. I didn’t think anything better would come, but if I had given my all or if I was happy with what I had done and what we had done with all the people around me, I would be gone. you don’t have to regret it.. That’s where my optimism comes from. And I don’t know if something better is coming, but I face it as what is happening to me cannot be so bad and maybe another path will open and we can continue.

When you look at ‘Report +’, you always come across incredible stories. When you saw your documentary, did you think that if you were to repeat your life 100 times, it would be impossible for what finally happened to you to happen?

Of course. I am quite sure. And in fact, if I look at the times I was able to take the next step, they were always on the edge. It’s not a very marked path and I have 10 opportunities. Instead, they are opportunities for a day or a half day, a last minute call, and it seems like everyone has to line up for that person to decide to call me or send me that email, or for me to read it and respond to that way, or do that lap in the tests… because you already know how it goes, that there is one set of tires and you only have one lap where you have to set the time, there is no 10 lap. You should twist like that. What happens if you lock on that turn? So it’s amazing. This is pretty much how my sports career went. But not only to me, but also to many other athletes it has been like this. When you see it in a ‘Report +’ like this, it’s incredible. I remember seeing some a few years ago when it was still the ‘Robinson Report’ and thinking the same thing.

Which do you remember?

I especially remembered what they did to Jorge Prado, when he was young and not what he was in the end. I remember I used to go karting and the trainers told me I had to see it. I don’t know what they are talking about. I saw it and it’s special now that it has my name on it.

We talked about the hard times. What was your most difficult moment? Maybe this season, because of the contractual mess with McLaren and Chip Ganassi?

This person has been mentally challenged by the tension with the media, having to be on a team when there is a legal dispute between them. Obviously, it wasn’t easy. I remember a week before an IndyCar race, I was preparing myself in case I had to testify in front of a judge in the United States and I spent two whole days with lawyers and they were not ideal, difficult situations. .. and I had to think about the race at the same time. But it has never been more emotionally difficult than thinking my careers were over when I was young. In the end, if you summarize it a little bit, it’s that I have two teams fighting me and they are two big teams.

You have always been a driver, always very open to the press, very accessible. But as a result of that battle, at that time everything was different. Has Alex changed in that regard?

No, but it’s legally better to keep quiet at that moment. Now, if you write to me tomorrow, I will answer you (laughs). But it is more than anything to not destroy in any way. In the end, I am a person who opens up too much and I trust the people I talk to so much that I let it all out, and when there is a legal dispute in between it is better not to speak. More than anything else it was for the fact that I was discredited in some way and that it could be used against me in the case of going to trial.

Some unfair things were said in the United States.

It’s clear! Some people end up dying, but in the end I don’t hold any grudges. People are doing their job and they don’t know exactly what is in this contract, on the other hand or what I have in mind. So without knowing that, I don’t think anyone can say one hundred percent true. An opinion, yes, but they cannot write one hundred percent true.

With that problem solved, how are things with Chip Ganassi?

Everything is perfect, everything is fixed, I’m back to work 100% with the team, no problems or misunderstandings.

Do you think you need to win back Chip Ganassi’s trust?

With that no problem. I don’t think he lost his trust in me. In the end it’s part of the business that this world has and that’s all. He was indeed one of those people who knew what was going on and never lost confidence. It was just a negotiation that took a little longer than usual, but he had complete trust in me.

2023 is his last year under contract with Chip Ganassi. After what happened, are you going to wait until the end of the season to make up your mind?

What I have learned is that I will not talk about my future until everything is closed. I learned that and obviously, I know that what everyone is interested in is knowing about 2023, and then when they learn about 2023, they want to know about 2024, 2025 and so on. But yeah, we’ll wait until it’s all over to announce things.

In his ‘Report +’ the danger of the ovals is clearly visible, where they pass at 375 km/h very close to the wall. Between the sense of danger of driving an F1 and an IndyCar on an oval, what do you do?

The oval in an IndyCar is tough. Mainly, for a European driver, because we don’t race on ovals here. I had to learn a lot and I’m still learning how to give 100% and how to get the most out of the car. The problem is that when you reach the limit you don’t go off the grass or the pozzolana like it happens in races on road circuits, but instead you go into the wall and you’re really hurt. And you don’t know if it will only hurt you for a week or if it will really hurt you and you won’t be able to run anymore. That makes it difficult, knowing you have to try to push harder, but not knowing how much more. And the thing about F1, it’s a difficult car to drive, because you have more things to do than just drive, but you have 20,000 buttons that you have to keep pressing to make the car work or run. But it was a lot of fun to try it out and I learned it with little time.

Let’s talk about F1. What exactly does your role as reserve driver in McLaren F1 consist of? Because now the first half of the year you have to focus on IndyCar and preparation for Indy500 and during this period you cannot work on the F1 simulator.

For people to understand, I somehow convinced people (Chip Ganassi) to let me have the best of both worlds: have a chance to be a reserve, but please let me race in IndyCar and try to win. the Indianapolis 500 and another championship. So, when it doesn’t coincide with IndyCar, I’ll work with the team, I’ll go to some races, I don’t know which, or when, or where. But above all, when the championship is over, instead of being in Spain or going on vacation, I will be more involved in the F1 side and try to help the team (McLaren) a little bit in any way I can, be there if needed. and learn thoroughly.

This comes from losing the Indy500 twice in a brutal way. How will you tackle the 500 Miles of 2023?

Hopefully the third time is the charm and I can win the 500 Miles in 2023. All I can do is prepare them well, get in a good car and I’m comfortable and most of all come prepared, especially mentally.

In 2021, he finished second and touched for glory in the Indy500. In 2022, he led for more than 40 laps but an untimely pit lane closure just a second before he pitted for a collision with another driver left him with no options. Which is more painful?

“They’re both difficult. For different reasons. When you lose it, you’re crushed a little later with things you could have done differently, but in 2021 it’s my first time with a competitive car (second 500 Miles of it) and I They won with someone like Castroneves, I wasn’t beaten by a rookie… And in 2022 I had one of the best cars or the best car on race day and you never know when you’ll get another chance like that, but I couldn’t have changed, I didn’t do anything.

What is your dream this 2023?

Being happy and winning the Indianapolis 500… and also the (IndyCar) championship.