With flawless driving and a perfectly judged strategy from his Chip Ganassi Racing pit wall, Alex Palou prevailed to win the Indianapolis Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday afternoon.
Pole-winner Christian Lundgaard led the field into turn one at the start of the 85-lap race, which kicked off the famous Month of May at Indianapolis. Palou started directly behind him on a set of alternate tyres, and put that grip advantage to good use by taking the lead in the final corner complex.
There was a short interruption at the start when Dale Coyne Racing team mates Sting Ray Robb and David Malukas collided in turn seven, causing the only full course caution of the race. Robb was too eager in trying to defend his position from Romain Grosjean and walloped the left-rear of Malukas’ car.
From the moment the race restarted, many expected the race to favour the softer alternate-compound tyres. But as the first stint developed, it became apparent that the harder primary compound tyres would be the ones to go with over a long green-flag run. That became apparent as Lundgaard began to close down what had been a five-second deficit to Palou, before the 2021 IndyCar Series champ pitted on lap 18. Lundgaard pitted two laps later, and rejoined behind Palou after the first pit cycle.
Now with Lundgaard on the softer tyre, the RLL driver re-took the net lead within four laps. As the stint ran long, again, the alternate compound tyres fell off rapidly towards the end. Palou re-took the lead on lap 42.
Lundgaard came in at the end of that lap, and a crucial tactical miscue saw him take on another, used set of alternate tyres, while Palou’s pit wall put him on primary tyres to the end of the race – first on lap 43, and again at lap 60.
When these stops were finished, Palou was leading by around ten seconds, and all the young Spaniard had to do was reel off a mistake-free stint to claim his fifth career IndyCar Series win – all on permanent road courses – and his first at the storied “Brickyard”.
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Palou’s victory was also important as it propelled him to the lead of the IndyCar Series drivers’ championship, heading into Indianapolis 500 time trials next weekend.
Pato O’Ward was boxed into having to run a fresh set of alternate tyres to the end of the race. While two stints on alternate tyres didn’t work for Lundgaard’s pursuit of victory, it did work to the Mexican’s advantage as he finished in second. O’Ward holds onto second in the championship standings with this result, six points behind new points table leader Palou.
McLaren Indy put two of its three challengers on the podium as Alexander Rossi took his first IndyCar podium with his new team in third – he had a blistering start, went for the alternate tyres on his final stint and it worked in his favour.
Lundgaard slipped behind Rossi and had to hold on to consolidate fourth place. It was Lundgaard’s best finish of 2023, indicative of better days ahead for the struggling Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team – but also, a missed opportunity for a first career win. Felix Rosenqvist, who shared the front row with Lundgaard, recovered from a scruffy start to join his two McLaren team mates in the top five, despite running out of fuel at the chequered flag.
Scott Dixon finished in sixth place, and Josef Newgarden plugged on to a seventh place finish. Marcus Ericsson slipped to third in the championship after finishing eighth.
Colton Herta came home in ninth place using the predicted strategy, which became the alternate strategy as the race progressed. He had to fight off tyre wear and a stuck anti-roll bar to finish inside the top ten, ahead of Graham Rahal, who finished in tenth after first-lap contact with Kyle Kirkwood put him off-sequence for much of the race.
Grosjean took 11th, while Will Power was spun after contact with Kirkwood and recovered to hold his 12th starting position. Scott McLaughlin had to pit for fuel on the last lap and dropped to 16th, not what he wanted to follow up his win in the Alabama Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Two drivers, Simon Pagenaud and Santino Ferrucci, had problems in the pits and stopped with loose wheels. Pagenaud dropped out of the race as a consequence. Ferrucci’s car was able to be recovered and the wheel was secured, but he lost five laps in the process. His team mate Benjamin Pedersen lost six laps after he lost radio communication before the green flag.
Indy 500 practice begins this Tuesday, while the first day of time trials begins Saturday, 20 May.
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Indianapolis Grand Prix race results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Alex Palou | Ganassi | Honda |
| 2 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 3 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | RLL | Honda |
| 5 | 6 | Felix Rosenqvist | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 6 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi | Honda |
| 7 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 8 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Ganassi | Honda |
| 9 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti | Honda |
| 10 | 15 | Graham Rahal | RLL | Honda |
| 11 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti | Honda |
| 12 | 12 | Will Power | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 13 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 14 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti | Honda |
| 15 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | Ganassi | Honda |
| 16 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 17 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Andretti | Honda |
| 18 | 77 | Callum Ilott | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 19 | 20 | Conor Daly | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 20 | 30 | Jack Harvey | RLL | Honda |
| 21 | 78 | Agustin Canapino | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 22 | 106 | Helio Castroneves | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 23 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 24 | 55 | Benjamin Pedersen | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 25 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 26 | 18 | David Malukas | Coyne/HMD | Honda |
| 27 | 51 | Sting Ray Robb | Coyne/RWR | Honda |
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