Alex Palou has been the most consistent driver in IndyCar over the past four seasons, which has led him to win three championships.
The Spaniard has also won two consecutive titles with Chip Ganassi Racing, which began with a dominant campaign in 2023 he won the title before the final round.
Palou became the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007 to win the IndyCar Series championship without the tension of a title decider at the last race.
He has also performed admirably and bounced back from difficult situations. Palou dropped off the lead lap in the opening race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2024 after the No. 10 car developed an issue, with the 27-year-old recovering to 19th place.
If the Spaniard can take a fourth championship next season, Palou will become one of just six drivers in history to win four IndyCar titles.
Palou has also explained to NBC Sports that one of his main goals for the 2025 season is to equal a feat Dario Franchitti achieved in his IndyCar career.
Alex Palou’s goal is to win his third consecutive title and match Dario Franchitti’s feat
Palou is the second most successful driver on the current IndyCar grid behind his teammate Scott Dixon, who has collected six championships to date.
A fourth title and third in a row would put him among a very exclusive club of just four drivers to have taken three consecutive titles, although Palou still isn’t proud of one aspect of his career – ovals.
It is essential for complacency not to creep in when being successful, as the field is so competitive that the margins are fine at the front.
But Palou explained that his objective for 2025 is to equal Franchitti with three consecutive IndyCar titles and that he learned a lot after his first championship triumph in 2021. Franchitti is also one of the current four-time IndyCar champions after taking his first title in 2007.
READ MORE: 32-podium IndyCar driver believes he’s ‘knocking on the door’ of a first oval win
He said: “To go back-to-back, it’s actually really tough just because when you win sometimes it’s easy to maybe relax a little bit and think that, ‘Hey, we were so good last year, maybe we don’t need to push as much’.
“I learned after 2021 that everybody’s trying to catch up from today probably. So, back-to-back [titles] is really tough. That’s probably why we don’t see that often. I would say obviously three in four years, it’s very tough, as well.
“Hopefully, we keep on working, we keep on pushing and if you can try and catch up to what Dario did back in 2009, [2010] and 2011.”
Alex Palou feels the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a different energy than other venues
Palou has been superb in IndyCar but is yet to take victory on an oval, despite showing good speed away from road and street courses.
The 27-year-old has been very quick, particularly at the Indy 500, the most important event on the IndyCar calendar.
He took pole position in 2023 before going on to finish in fourth place after taking second place two years earlier.
Palou feels the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a different energy to other circuits on the IndyCar calendar, making it a special venue.