Alex Palou has been ice-cool throughout his IndyCar career and has driven consistently, which has led him to three championships in four years.
The Spaniard has taken two consecutive titles for Chip Ganassi Racing, dominating in 2023 as he won the championship without the agony of a title decider at the last round.
Palou took his third championship this season after seeing off Will Power, who was his nearest challenger heading into the final round at Nashville Superspeedway.
The three-time champion has performed admirably in his IndyCar career, making very few mistakes while adapting to new tracks in North America.
Palou told NBC Sports that he has one trait that the rest of the IndyCar grid may not be able to manage over a season.
Alex Palou feels some drivers ‘wouldn’t be able to perform’ with his mindset
Palou is very composed both on the track and outside the car which has helped him to achieve tremendous success in his career.
He is now the second most successful driver on the current grid behind his teammate Scott Dixon, who has won six championships in his career.
It is very important to keep calm when racing, particularly as the margins are so fine in IndyCar. It is also especially critical on ovals, which is an area where Palou isn’t proud of his form.
Making good decisions has helped Palou in North America, managing traffic well and not getting caught up with lapped cars.
Palou explained that his ice-cool mentality is something other drivers wouldn’t perform well with, but it has been a secret weapon for the Spaniard in IndyCar.
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The reigning champion said: “I think there would be some drivers that couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to perform maybe with my mindset, wouldn’t be able to be so explosive with my way of thinking and I would say not only racing but life in general.
“But it works for me. It’s what keeps me pushing, what keeps me never giving up and always trying to see the bright side of the issues that we have.
“At the same time, I think it wouldn’t work for me to be so explosive and maybe a bit hotter when everything was good and a bit more desperate when everything was going bad.”
Alex Palou is looking to equal Dario Franchitti’s feat in 2025
He has now won three championships in IndyCar, which is very impressive for a European driver who didn’t grow up with ovals.
Palou is looking for his third consecutive title, which would equal Dario Franchitti’s feat from 2009-2011 when he won three championships in a row.
A fourth championship would put Palou into a very exclusive club of just six drivers in history to win four titles in IndyCar.
Next season, a victory on an oval would help Palou who is yet to win away from road and street courses, although that hasn’t stopped him so far.