It’s not quite like riding a bike, but after five years since the last time he stepped into the cockpit of a GT3 car, three-time IndyCar Series Champion Alex Palou took little time to get up to speed in his Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
“It was good. It was different to what I’m used to,” Palou remarked to DSC of his first impressions behind the wheel of the car that he’ll race in Saturday’s Indianapolis 8 Hour Race. “The speeds in the corners, they feel different than the IndyCar.
“You cannot go flat in some areas, where in an IndyCar, it’s like, almost straight. But it was good, it felt good. Ran some laps, had some issues – as always on a Thursday – but it was great!”
In 2019, Palou was a SUPER GT Series rookie at the wheel of the pink and black Team Goh McLaren 720S GT3. Factors outside his control led to a slow start that didn’t meet the team’s lofty expectations, but then they got better as the season went on. Palou and veteran co-driver Seiji Ara finished second in GT300 at Autopolis, and he stuck it on pole in the finale at Mobility Resort Motegi.
That opportunity in Japan ended up being Palou’s pathway into IndyCar, as it turned out, through series alumni Roger Yasukawa – who was McLaren Customer Racing Japan’s Sporting Director. So impressed was Yasukawa with Palou that as they talked about the future, they struck a deal with Dale Coyne Racing to bring Palou in through a co-branded effort with Team Goh.
The rest is still history being written. A solid rookie season in a team known for nurturing young drivers and punching three classes above its weight, a transfer to powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing that has unlocked Palou’s potential – and he’s now won three IndyCar titles at just 27 years old.
The time that passed since 2019 helped create a clean slate for Palou, easing one burden as he slips behind the wheel of the front-engined Mercedes versus the midship McLaren he drove back then.
“It didn’t affect me too much, honestly, because of the time,” he continues. “Obviously, I remembered the ABS, traction control, a little bit of the flow and the movement of the car. But I couldn’t tell you the exact differences. It’s a little more understeering, not so much on the nose.
“I mean, at the end of the day it’s still a steering wheel and two pedals! It still feels really fast because of the amount of weight. It takes so much time to brake. At the end, you’re always on the limit, the same way in an IndyCar, or any car.”
Whereas his regular ride, the Dallara IR-18, allows him to rotate the car under braking and carry speed freely with massive downforce and grip, Palou’s challenge in a GT3 car is about handling weight transfer, maximising the braking zones and corner exits, all with much less downforce and mechanical grip.
His adaptability – whether it’s behind the wheel of an IndyCar, a Mercedes-AMG GT3, or a Cadillac V-Series.R prototype – is to the benefit of Lone Star Racing, who won the Indianapolis 8 Hour two years ago as they prepared the car entered by Craft-Bamboo Racing.
Palou watched that win, co-authored by his friend and countryman Daniel Juncadella, and it steered him towards competing in the Brickyard’s longest endurance race in 2024.
Sharing the cockpit with two Mercedes-AMG works aces in Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller, Palou doesn’t feel out of place. He just loves to race, anything and everything, particularly if he’s prepared to win.
Of course, he loves to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as virtually every other American open-wheeler that has run the Indianapolis 500 has done before him. Palou previously held the record for the fastest four-lap pole qualifying run at the 500 and came within half a second of winning it in 2021.
But in particular, Palou has a knack for mastering the Brickyard’s road course. He’s won the Indianapolis Grand Prix in May the last two years with Ganassi, part of his most recent title-winning campaigns.
“The style, it’s very European. You still have really good runoffs. You can use all the kerbs on entry, mid, and exits,” Palou commented.
“You have the grass. Maybe you go to Road America, and (the kerbs) are so harsh that you cannot really use the exit kerbs.
“It’s a place where I would say it’s very easy to get to a certain point… to get to, let’s say, the top ten or top 15. That’s why we see that there’s almost no differences. But then to get that half a tenth, that separates P8 to P1, or P5 to P1, it’s a huge step.”
His quests for more IndyCar championships and that elusive first win at the 500 are top priorities, but Palou is eager to make time to do more racing in the world of sports cars. This includes opportunities to get back into the GTP class in IMSA or Hypercar in WEC.
“That’s what I’m working on, trying to get a ride in GTP in Daytona – which will be hard,” Palou says. “I’m working on it.”
The path to prototypes won’t be straightforward for him heading into 2025. Chip Ganassi Racing won’t be back on the IMSA GTP grid next year. A frustrating clash of dates for IndyCar’s race at Gateway Motorsports Park will leave him unable to come back to Le Mans.
And of course, his one-off appearance for Mercedes-AMG this week had to be approved by Chip Ganassi Racing and its current IndyCar technical partner, Honda.
“The plan is to try and do more endurance races when time allows. I won’t do anything that takes too much time, even though I would love to be racing every single weekend, I cannot allow that to take any time from my IndyCar season. I’ll add more races, as long as they don’t take too much time.”
If he’s able, Palou also wants to broaden his endurance horizons beyond Daytona, Le Mans, and Indianapolis. The Spaniard would want to try and tackle the revived Suzuka 1000km, for instance – and most of all, he wants to challenge Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia.
“There’s more, but one that I would love to do next would be Bathurst,” he says, before lamenting, “but it’s not in the vision for next year.
“The (Bathurst) 1000 would be nice as well, but maybe that will be a next step in more years. I would say the Bathurst 12 Hour would be nice.
“But I would love to drive that if I have the preparation so I can go and compete. I would not like to do it to be 35th – I think it’s not worth it.
“I would like to try other cars, like NASCAR cars. I would love to get in a NASCAR on a road course and just try how it feels. But as well, only with preparation. Only if a good opportunity comes up.”
Alex Palou’s racing mantra is simple – he wants to broaden his horizons, but most of all, he wants to win. “I enjoy driving every single thing, but only if I can compete. If I cannot compete because of myself or the equipment, it’s a lot tougher.”
Images © Mercedes-AMG
