There was a time when Alex Palou looked set to become the next Spanish talent in Formula 1 — but a contract fiasco and a whole lot of poor timing meant the IndyCar champion looked set to remain in the American open-wheel series.

Now that he’s cemented his already impressive IndyCar legacy with a coveted win at the Indianapolis 500, many have asked if now he might change his mind and begin pursing and F1 seat. But Alex Palou claims he’s happy right where he is.

Indy 500 winner Alex Palou plans to stick it out in IndyCar

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Spanish open-wheel racer Alex Palou kicked off his motorsport life on the path to Formula 1, but the tides never seemed to flow in his favor. Be it a lack of performance or financial trouble, Palou had to cobble together career from GP3, Japanese Formula 3, and then Super Formula before the opportunity arose to move to IndyCar.

After a season with Dale Coyne Racing, longtime IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi had seen all he needed and signed Palou to his Honda-powered team. In 2022, he rewarded the leap of faith by winning his first of three championships — and in 2025, it looks like he’s well on his way to another crown.

It was his Indy 500 victory — his first oval win in his career — that once again launched him onto the Formula 1 radar.

Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, though, Palou denied that he had aspirations outside of IndyCar.

“There is no place I would rather be than here,” he said.

“In IndyCar, I have an outstanding team and the chance to build something big. Plus, the competition is crazy!

“We’ve certainly had a great start to the season, but it always takes the first practice session to know where you stand. I like the uncertainty of the extremely tight field.”

When it was pointed out to Palou that team bosses like Jamese Vowles and Fred Vasseur had heaped praise on him after Indy, the Spaniard admitted that the praise made him smile — but that’s about all.

“Let’s not get the wrong idea: I love Formula 1 and of course it was my dream,” he said.

“The timing just isn’t right at the moment. Why should I waste three or four years with a team that can’t win?

“That’s not my idea of racing. I want to fight for wins — especially at the Indy 500 — and for championships. That’s the only way I’ll be happy.”

The discussion about a potential move to F1, he explained, was being led “first and foremost by fans” — but that he’s more than happy to enjoy F1 as a spectator.

Auto Motor und Sport brought up the complex contract negotiation scandal that Palou was wrapped up in back in 2022, when he publicly denied that he would rejoin CGR for 2023 because he’d signed a deal with McLaren that looked set to put him on the path to Formula 1.

But Palou didn’t dig too deeply into the matter; rather, he explained that he was pleased to have sorted things out with Ganassi, and that the best way to rectify the issue is by performing well in the car.

F1, then, is not on his horizon.

“There is still so much I can learn in the IndyCar racer,” he said. Every time I go out, I find room for improvement in myself and the team. So I’m nowhere near the end.”

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Nevertheless, his victory took place just before Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix, and with two Spaniards on the grid this year, Palou was naturally a topic of conversation during the pre-race press conference.

“I think someone that is capable of winning in Indy — Indy 500 — at least, I don’t know, at some point should be given the chance to show what he can do in Formula 1,” Williams driver Carlos Sainz said to the media, including PlanetF1.com, during the pre-event press conference.

“And if he’s quick enough in Formula 1, then he should be welcome in Formula 1.”

Sainz used the opportunity to reflect on the brief time that he and Palou were teammates back in Cadet karting — and even then, “he was very quick.”

Still, the Williams driver didn’t add any pressure to Palou’s shoulders, at least as far as an F1 swap goes.

“But honestly speaking, what he’s doing in America is something really admirable, I think, to dominate Indy the way he’s dominating — you have to be very good at what he’s doing.

“Then Formula 1 is a completely different discipline, different world, but I don’t have anything else than respect and admiration for what Alex is doing in Indy.”

Fernando Alonso, too, was highly complimentary.

“I mean, great, great for Spain, first of all,” the Aston Martin driver, who contested the 500 in 2017 and 2020, said.

“Great for him to have the Indy 500 now after winning the series in the IndyCar for a few consecutive seasons, and now leading the championship as well. He’s doing great out there.

“I know that most of the drivers, we dream about a Formula 1 seat and having a career here, but he had the opportunity in IndyCar, and he maximized every single day there.

“He’s a legend in the IndyCar, and he will be a legend always in IndyCar.

“So I think he’s not missing Formula 1. And I’m very happy for him, because he’s a very, very talented driver.

“We are just following him from here with a lot of respect and you know, as a fan because I was watching on Sunday the race and just hoping that he will finally make it, and he did.”

Palou has been very casually linked to a seat at Cadillac’s incoming Formula 1 team, but only in a very general sense thanks to his prior connections to the manufacturer in endurance racing. For now, expect to see him racking up titles over in America.

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