Alex Palou’s title efforts seemed to be on the edge of derailing before the race had even started at the Music City Grand Prix, through no fault of his own.
The Spaniard was forced to take a nine-place grid penalty for an unauthorised engine change before he had even completed a lap in anger around the Nashville Superspeedway.
To compound his misery, he only managed 15th in qualifying, leaving him to line-up right at the back of the pack in 24th for the race.
If things had remained as they were from then, Will Power had a chance to claim the IndyCar title if he could gain two positions and finish second in the race – but luckily for Palou, it didn’t unfold that way.
Alex Palou thinks he was in ‘best position’ due to leading championship
In a gut-wrenching affair, Power was forced to stop just 12 laps into the race with a seatbelt failure – all but ruining his already slender championship hopes.
The relentless Palou was now able to relax a bit more, safe in the knowledge that he had already secured the silverware.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Palou revealed how he was already in a great position before the race, despite starting right at the back.
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“Here in Nashville, yeah, starting 24th it is what it is man,” he said. “It’s not ideal, but I was still in the best position ever. I was still leading the championship, we still had a big margin.
“We still had a great team around us that I had full confidence in that they were going to be able to get me to the front as quickly as possible and they did.”
Palou has incredible skill at such a young age
Composure is such a difficult thing to master for a young driver, but Palou appears to have bags of it aged just 27.
He’s measured and knows when to attack his rivals, and when to push his car to the limit – shown at Nashville when he began to unleash his pace at the end of the race.
Title rival Will Power caused a caution at Gateway and spun at Milwaukee – two incidents that would have seen him claim the championship if he had avoided them.
A refined approach will be required from the grid in 2025 if they want to prevent Palou from claiming a fourth crown in five seasons.
Expect a more stern approach from Palou in the future, who is aware that his rivals will be willing to risk it all in an attempt to be the one to beat him.