Red Bull is eyeing a move for IndyCar champion Alex Palou to join Max Verstappen in the team’s Formula 1 ranks, according to a report in America.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has returned to struggling with its second seat alongside Verstappen, after firing Sergio Perez at the end of last year.

Liam Lawson lasted just two races at the start of this year and was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who has also struggled to score points in the tricky RB21.

Meanwhile, Palou’s stock has continued to rise Stateside, as he took his third straight IndyCar title just two weeks ago, his fourth overall.

It would not be the first time that Palou has been linked to F1, after an initial and contentious connection via McLaren.

The Woking-based outfit filed a lawsuit in 2023, which is ongoing, regarding an alleged breach of contract, after having tested its F1 challengers in a reserve driver role.

And earlier this summer, Williams Team Principal James Vowles revealed that the Spaniard was on its shortlist of candidates for a drive alongside Alex Albon this year.

Immediately after his first Indy 500 win this year, Palou revealed to the Indianapolis Star newspaper that F1 was not “calling him” anymore.

He added that his focus was now away from F1 after his long and successful stint across the pond, and that he “[liked] winning races”, seeking glory rather than fame.

But now the same publication is reporting that Red Bull’s hierarchy may now be able to tempt his attention back to F1.

However, the supposed terms of Palou’s current contract with Chip Ganassi Racing could see Red Bull required to pay a hefty release clause to spring the 28-year-old from it.

Unlike other IndyCar drivers rumoured to be seeking the challenge of F1, Palou has the required Super Licence points in order to race.

And his glowing profile as one of the world’s best drivers might also tempt Red Bull into a potential play for his signature, particularly given the sport’s growing popularity in the country.

READ MORE – IndyCar star Colton Herta yet to rule out F2 switch to help secure F1 drive

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All 27 drivers of the NTT IndyCar Series buckled in and completed two of the fastest laps they could muster around the Milwaukee Mile Saturday afternoon, setting the grid for Sunday’s race.

Continuing his hot streak, Alex Palou earned pole by completing his laps in 44.8422 seconds, which gave him an average speed of 162.971 MPH. His laps were nearly three quarters of a MPH faster than any other driver, once again showing the field how talented he is.

David Malukas was second quick, followed by Pato O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin who filled out the second row on the grid.

READ MORE: IndyCar Milwaukee – Full Qualifying Report

Colton Herta saved an oversteer moment on his first lap and kept his #26 Honda from damage, but his run was still ruined. Felix Rosenqvist was not so lucky, and backed his #60 MSR entry into the barriers before he could complete his run.

Kyffin Simpson, Scott Dixon, and Louis Foster all were given grid penalties for excessive engine changes, and each will drop nine positions down the order for race time.

Drivers have a final practice yet to complete, then will jump straight into the 250-lap race on Sunday at 1:00 central time.

The post IndyCar Milwaukee – Qualifying Results appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Saturday afternoon at the Milwaukee Mile was set aside for IndyCar qualifying, with drivers completing two solo laps in order to set the grid for Sunday’s race.

Drivers generally improved as the session went out, with later laps having the benefit of more rubber built up on the concrete surface.

When the line of cars on pit lane was emptied, however, it was the inevitable Alex Palou that had the fastest time of the afternoon.

READ MORE: IndyCar Milwaukee – Full Qualifying Results

Palou’s two laps were completed in 44.8422 seconds, which gave him an average speed of 162.971 MPH. His laps were nearly three quarters of a MPH faster than any other driver.

David Malukas had a good chance at earning his first career IndyCar pole, and was in the provisional top spot for most of the final portion of the event.

He was seen getting his hopes up as his time stood up, but then disappointment hit when Palou, who was the final qualifier, knocked him out of the top position.

Pato O’Ward also had a good set of laps and earned the third grid position, just ahead of Scott McLaughlin in fourth.

The other members of Team Penske had solid runs as well, with Will Power qualifying sixth and Josef Newgarden setting the eighth best time.

Grid penalties and disappointment

Three drivers were assessed grid penalties ahead of qualifying, with all three entries needing an engine change which pushed them over the number allowed.

Kyffin Simpson and Scott Dixon each lost an engine at the team’s test at Milwaukee last week, and Louis Foster’s engine failed at the beginning of practice earlier in the day.

All three were Honda engines, and the most consequential was the penalty for Dixon.

The veteran qualified with the fifth best time, but he will roll away from the 14th position.

Simpson and Foster were well down the order, and will take up the final two positions on the grid on Sunday.

Colton Herta was simultaneously extremely unlucky and lucky, and the Californian’s skills saved his Andretti crew from having to rebuild the #26.

The rear of his car stepped out on his first flying lap, but quick hands and deft throttle control allowed him to control his car while in an extreme slide. He remarkably brought the car to rest without touching any walls at all.

Herta’s time was obviously way off the pace, and he will start Sunday’s event from the rear of the field.

Felix Rosenqvist also had a sudden case of oversteer, but he was not able to save his car from taking damage.

His #60 MSR Honda slid into the Turn 4 wall and impacted it squarely with the rear attenuator, damaging his rear wing and suspension in the process.

With the grid set, drivers will hit the track in anger on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM central time for 250 laps around the flat oval.

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Pato O’Ward is having the best IndyCar season of his career, and is likely going to finish second in the season championship.

If he does, it would be the highest the 26-year-old has finished in the driver’s title race.

Despite earning two wins and nine top five finishes with two races yet to go in the 2025 season, O’Ward feels a bit overshadowed by Alex Palou’s dominance.

Palou clinched his third consecutive championship during the Portland race weekend, and became the youngest driver ever to earn four titles.

O’Ward still feels that he and his Arrow McLaren team are ‘breaking curses’ that have held them back in recent years.

“We’re breaking curses, as I like to call them,” said O’Ward. “Zak [Brown] was finally at a race win in the flesh. We’re finally breaking curses at certain circuits that have always been a very tough challenge for not just my side but sometimes all three cars.

“I’m glad that we’ve pushed forward. The guys have brought me new things, new upgrades, to try on the cars. That just speaks to, like, how hungry we are to kind of close that gap and just bring the fight to pretty much the #10 car, which is the only car that’s up there all the time.

“I think [Palou’s] success this year has overshadowed a little bit of how strong the team has stepped up and given us the tools to perform every weekend, even though maybe the year prior to that it was a bit of a challenge.”

O’Ward has been with Arrow McLaren for six seasons and has been responsible for a bulk of the team’s successes since McLaren came into the series.

If he can find a way to take one further step up in results, he may well step out of Palou’s shadow and take the bulk of the headlines for himself.

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Alex Palou clinched the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series title over the weekend, securing his fourth championship in five years and firmly placing himself among the elites of IndyCar history.

His success also means another title for Chip Ganassi Racing, giving the historic team 17 total championships in its history.

The team has had dominant drivers in the past such as Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, and Palou certainly lives up to the legacy those drivers built at CGR.

Team owner Chip Ganassi was all smiles after his driver secured the title on Sunday, saying that Palou’s driving talent spoils him when he has to consider inquiries from other drivers.

“Well, it certainly makes it more difficult to hire other drivers, I can tell you that,” said Ganassi in response to a question from Motorsportweek.com.

“When you have a year like we’ve had, you talk to these other drivers and they’ve had one or two wins in their career, I feel so bad.

“I say to [Managing Director Mike Hull] all the time, ‘We’re spoiled.’ There are good drivers that come and talk to us about possibilities. I feel so bad when I’m spoiled with Palou and Dixon and Franchitti. Yes, it spoils me.

“I’ve never seen a guy work so quietly and diligently at his craft as [Palou].

“I said in the beginning of the year that we’re just scratching the surface of his talent. I still think he’s got more in his gas tank, his tank, for this season, and he’s got more in his tank for coming seasons.”

Ganassi’s team is now tied with Team Penske with 17 series championships in the record book.

With a talent like Palou secured, it seems only a matter of time before that tie is broken and CGR can move into a category all its own.

The post Chip Ganassi: ‘We’re spoiled’ having drivers like Palou on our roster appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Alex Palou is the champion of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series, having locked up the title two races early.

Palou finished Sunday’s race in Portland in with a 151 point lead over Pato O’Ward. With only 54 points on offer for each of the final two rounds, there is no way he can be caught.

The impressive Spaniard now has won four titles over the past five years, an incredible achievement that has only been accomplished a few times in the history of the series.

By earning his fourth championship, Palou joins only five other drivers who have accomplished that feat.

AJ Foyt, Scott Dixon, Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais, and Dario Franchitti are the only ones to have four or more IndyCar titles. Elite company indeed.

Palou also becomes IndyCar’s youngest four time champion at 28 years old, beating out Bourdais’ record by a few months.

He is also only the fourth driver to win three consecutive championships, a feat that is arguably more impressive considering the competitiveness of modern IndyCar racing.

“The way I’ve been feeling this year, incredible,” said Palou after clinching the title. “Like every single weekend it’s been getting better and better.

“We’ve won so many races. We won the 500. The feeling you get after winning that race, an explosion of amazing feelings. People keep reminding you about that every single day when you wake up, which makes it feel even more special.

“Today to win my fourth IndyCar championship, and to bring one more to Chip Ganassi Racing, to be able to clinch it early, it feels amazing. It’s the best. It just keeps getting better.”

Palou is just getting stronger as well, as he has taken victory at eight of the season’s 15 races this year. This year’s total equals his total from the past two seasons, and he won the title in each of those years.

There is surely much more to be seen of the #10 Chip Ganassi Honda, as both he and the team will not be eager to change anything about their relationship at this point.

The post Alex Palou clinches title, becomes IndyCar’s newest four time champion appeared first on Motorsport Week.

IndyCar tackled the final road course of the season on Sunday, completing 110 laps around Portland International Raceway.

Temperatures climbed above 90°F (32°C), well above average for the area, which gave drivers and crews a physical challenge.

The heat was not a problem, however, and the race provided plenty of action right through to the final laps.

READ MORE: IndyCar Portland – Full Race Results

Will Power, Christian Lundgaard, and Alex Palou were embroiled in a three-way battle for final 20 laps. Each was looking for an advantage over the other, but none were making any mistakes despite fatigue setting in.

Power was able to stay ahead of the other two as they battled amongst each other, and the veteran claimed his first victory of the season.

His win was also Team Penske’s first victory of 2025, which was a relief to the crew that has struggled all season.

Lundgaard crossed the line second, with Palou coming third. At one point in their battle, Palou was forced wide and took a trip through the grass, which put an end to his hopes of earning a ninth victory of the season.

Interestingly, the softer red tires were working well for most of the field despite the high temperatures.

Most drivers had predicted that they would only be usable for a few laps before degrading, but that proved not to be the case in race conditions.

The top three drivers each employed slightly different strategies, but all only ran one stint on the harder tires and spent a majority of time on the red walled variety.

Championship secured

By virtue of finishing in third, Alex Palou wrapped up the driver championship for the 2025 season with two races remaining.

Palou’s points advantage leaving Portland is 151, which is well clear of the 108 he needed to secure the title.

The championship is the Spaniard’s third consecutive title, and gives him four out of the past five seasons.

Coming into the weekend, Pato O’Ward was still mathematically alive, and he continued the narrative by qualifying second and starting on the front row.

O’Ward led for the first 21 laps, but then suddenly slowed with an engine issue.

He limped his #5 Arrow McLaren entry back to the pits where the team was able to reset the electronics and send him on his way.

But O’Ward finished down in 25th, 10 laps down, which cost him a host of points and sealed his fate to finish behind Palou in the points.

Slow start to the race

There were multiple incidents in the first portion of the race, which made for a bit of a stuttering start to the action.

The first retirement was Santino Ferrucci, who lost control on his own while starting down the main straight on the second lap.

Ferrucci’s #14 backed into the barriers, which ripped his left rear wheel off and spelled and early end to his day.

A second quick yellow was brought out for debris in Turn 2, and just a few laps after the field got going again the yellow was out for the third time.

Conor Daly was the cause, as he spun into the grass and impacted the tire barriers hard in Turn 11.

Daly had been battling with Christian Rasmussen for multiple laps, with the two bumping off each other a few times.

The duel culminated in a hard impact for the JHR driver, who slid into the barriers completely sideways at nearly 140 MPH.

Drivers have one week off before reconvening in Milwaukee for the penultimate event of the 2025 season.

The post Will Power victorious after tense battle for the top spot in Portland appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Alex Palou is the man of the moment in IndyCar, and currently holds a 121 point lead heading into this weekend’s race at Portland International Raceway.

With only three races remaining on the 2025 calendar, Palou has a chance to clinch the championship and secure his fourth title in five years.

Pato O’Ward is still technically alive in the championship race, but an unlikely set of circumstances would have to come together in order for the popular Mexican driver to earn his first championship.

Palou leaving Portland with a 98 point advantage, and assuming both drivers take part in the final races, would allow him to wrap up the title before the final races in Milwaukee and Nashville.

It is perhaps easier to look at the possible scenarios for this weekend from the point of view of O’Ward’s finishing position:

If O’Ward wins the race in Portland and takes all four bonus points, Palou would still clinch the championship if he finishes fourth place or higher.

If O’Ward wins but only takes the single bonus point for leading a lap, then Palou needs to finish in sixth or higher to clinch.

If O’Ward finishes second with no bonus points to earn 40 points on the weekend, then Palou can finish 13th and still win the title.

If O’Ward earns the final step of the podium and earns 35 points, Palou only needs to finish 18th or higher to clinch the championship.

If O’Ward crosses the line fourth and earns 32 points, Palou can still wrap up the title with a 20th place result.

If O’Ward finishes fifth and earns 30 points, then Palou can finish 22nd and still clinch.

If O’Ward earns a sixth place result and earns 28 points, Palou only needs to finish 24th or higher to clinch the title.

If O’Ward crosses the line seventh or worse, then his title chances are over and Palou will officially become the newest four-time champion.

Of course, if Palou finishes on the podium in Portland, which he has done 10 of the 14 races held so far this season, then there is nothing O’Ward can do to extend the title fight.

The chances of the dominant Spaniard earning yet another championship are increasingly likely, and he could have the Astor Cup secured in just a matter of days.

The BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland takes place on Sunday, August 10 at 3:00 PM eastern time.

The post How Palou can clinch his fourth IndyCar championship this weekend appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Alex Palou won his seventh IndyCar race of the season on Sunday, extending his points lead and all but ensuring that he will end the year with his fourth series championship.

His victory gave him a mark on his stat sheet that he had been missing to this point: a win on a short oval.

Palou has now won on all the track types IndyCar visits, and can seemingly adapt to any situation he is presented.

Speaking after Palou’s win in Iowa, Ganassi team manager Barry Wanser explained that having a star driver allows the team to utilize a variety of strategies as needed the same way legendary drivers from the team’s past have done.

“Alex basically brings to us the same thing Dario [Franchitti] did to the #10 car,” said Wanser. “He gave us all the options.

“So when you look at strategy and options during the race, whether it’s before the race or the tire choice, the starting tire, the setup of the car, and then what he has to do for us in the race to perform against everybody, he gives us all of those options.

“We’re never at a point where it’s like, ‘We can’t do this part of the strategy or we can’t do that part.’ We have it all, even sometimes when he doesn’t agree.”

The unpredictability of IndyCar is one of the major reasons fans of the series follow along each weekend.

Differing strategies, pit stop philosophies, and track demands can change multiple times over the course of any given race, which means adaptability is the key to success.

Palou’s ability to excel in all manner of situations is a major factor in his success, and it seems likely to carry him to yet another championship this season.

The post Alex Palou opens ‘all the options’ in Ganassi’s extensive playbook appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Team Penske showed flashes of domination in the two races from Iowa Speedway over the weekend, but it was not enough to keep its star drivers in championship contention.

Saturday was the better of the two races for the historic team. Josef Newgarden nearly won for the seventh time on the 7/8-mile oval, but came up just short by finishing in second.

His two team-mates were directly behind, with Will Power and Scott McLaughlin crossing the line third and fourth respectively. It was by far the trio’s best result of the year as a whole.

Sunday’s race was not so fortunate, as Newgarden finished in tenth and his two team-mates both retired early in the event.

As a result of well-documented season-long struggles, Power is the highest ranking member of Team Penske in the championship race. The veteran sits eighth in the standings, 271 points behind Alex Palou.

With a maximum of 54 points available for each event, and five remaining in the 2025 calendar, the maximum gap that can be overcome at this moment is 270 points.

Even if Power won all races remaining in the season and Palou did not take part, there is no possible way for the veteran to earn his third title this year.

McLaughlin and Newgarden sit 12th and 14th in the standings, and were also officially eliminated from title contention this past weekend.

Historic results

If the team’s three drivers remain in their points positions through the end of the season, it will mark the worst points result for Team Penske since the 1998 CART season.

In that year, the team fielded Al Unser Jr. and Andre Ribeiro. Unser was the best performing of the two, earning one podium and finishing 11th in the championship.

1999 also saw all Team Penske for down the order, but the team also had no single driver compete in every round, which affected the standings as much as individual performances.

Every year since then, Penske has had one driver finishing fifth of higher in the championship, including eight championship victories.

There are still five races in this season, however, and Power is 56 points behind the driver who sits fifth in the points Christian Lundgaard.

If the driver of the #12 can overcome that gap, the team can at least keep from finishing the year with its worst results in over 25 years, even if the championship itself is already out of reach.

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