Alex Palou has been hailed one of the world’s best drivers after scoring his third IndyCar race win this season.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 starter Stefan Wilson has suggested the Spaniard replace Mexico’s Sergio Perez at the Red Bull team after triumphing at Road America.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver beat this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden by four and a half seconds, cementing a mammoth lead in the IndyCar Series title race.
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The call comes as Perez struggles to keep pace with Formula 1 teammate Max Verstappen, who dominated the Canadian Grand Prix on Monday and extended his points lead.
“What Alex Palou is doing in IndyCar right now is so impressive,” Wilson tweeted.
“It would be so interesting to switch him into that second Red Bull and see what he could do in F1.
“He is in the top five best drivers in the world right now, no doubt about it. Arguably top three.”
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Palou, who won the 2021 IndyCar title with Chip Ganassi Racing, has been hot property.
McLaren sought to poach the 26-year-old last year but was snagged by a contract clause that kept him at Ganassi’s eponymous team.
However, Palou has kept ties to McLaren by way of an F1 testing deal.
While an F1 berth with Red Bull seems unlikely, he has made a strong case to win his second IndyCar title.
Monday’s win was controlled, starting from third behind pole sitter Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward.
O’Ward was an early victim of the first lap melee when Kyle Kirkwood ran into the back of him. Kirkwood spun, and brought out the yellow, while O’Ward lost a bunch of spots.
Herta led the field back to green on lap four, but the drama continued when McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist spun, courtesy of a hit from Ed Carpenter Racing driver Rinus VeeKay.
Herta held a steady lead and after 10 laps off the 55-lap race distance hovered around one second. Palou was second with his teammate Marcus Armstrong in third, Newgarden fourth, and McLaren’s Alexander Rossi fifth.
The yellow flew on lap 12 again when Romain Grosjean spun on his own after he dropped the left side wheels onto the grass, stalling his car.
That prompted the leading cars to pit. Herta maintained his spot at the head of the field from Palou while Newgarden and Armstrong swapped positions.
There was drama on the restart when Jack Harvey understeered and drove off the road on his own into the final corner, extending the yellow period.
After a relatively clean run, the yellow flew again on lap 25 when David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing came to a sudden halt at the Carousel.
Pit lane came alive as everyone, excluding Armstrong and Will Power, opted to pit. Palou was the biggest mover, leading the cars out of pit lane ahead of Newgarden, Herta, O’Ward, and Rossi.
Armstrong led the field back to green on lap 28 with Power in tow. Herta quickly usurped Newgarden, who got passed by O’Ward too. McLaughlin tried to put a pass on his teammate Newgarden but got cast wide and opened the door for Dixon to pass.
Herta continued his charge, making his way back to third on lap 30.
Armstrong eventually ceded the lead on lap on lap 31 and Power followed suit on lap 33, cleansing the field. With that, Herta took the lead with Palou, O’Ward, Newgarden, and Scott Dixon behind him.
With 15 laps to go, Herta was the first to blink for the final pit stop. A lap later, Palou and the whole trailing pack pitted in response.
Herta kept the lead from Palou, Newgarden, O’Ward, and Dixon. The Californian skipped away initially but fell back into the clutches of Palou with 10 laps to go.
Soon enough, the pair began fighting over first place and with seven laps to go the Spaniard made his move around the outside at turn one.
Palou immediately skipped away while Herta began to haemorrhage time. Eventually, Herta fell to fourth, gifting Newgarden second and O’Ward third.
Palou eventually cruised across the line, winning by four and a half seconds.
“It’s been an amazing weekend,” Palou said.
“I’m super happy. They gave me the pit stop that gave us the win. It was an amazing day for the No.10 American Legion Ganassi car, and we’re going to keep it going.”
With victory, Palou moved his lead out to more than a race win’s worth of points. He leads teammate Marcus Ericsson by 74 points.
Newgarden sits third and 81 points in arrears while Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon sit level in fourth, 98 points adrift.
Scott McLaughlin sits sixth and last year’s champion Will Power holds eighth.
The IndyCar Series resumes on July 3 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
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