Alex Palou is one of the elite IndyCar drivers and was the first Spaniard to ever win the championship, so here is everything you need to know about him.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has been incredibly competitive throughout his career, taking three IndyCar championships in his first five years amongst a field full of top-level talents.
Palou took his first title in 2021, just his second IndyCar campaign and first with Chip Ganassi Racing, seeing off Pato O’Ward in a tense finale at Long Beach.
He took his second title two years later in a dominant season at the front of the field, finishing 78 points ahead of Scott Dixon. The Spaniard then went back-to-back by defending his crown for the 2024 IndyCar title.
Alex Palou won the IndyCar title in just his second season
After a difficult career on the road to F1, his pursuit of Formula 1 ended for the time being in 2019 with a switch to Super Formula in Japan and onwards to IndyCar a year later.
Palou failed to win a title while competing in Formula 1’s junior series with a best finish of third in the Spanish Formula 3 Championship in 2014.
The Spaniard also finished third in the EuroFormula Open Championship in the same year and he claimed the same championship position three years later in Japanese F3.
Palou moved to IndyCar for the Covid-19-affected 2020 campaign, which saw just 14 races, and the Indy 500 ran in August rather than the traditional month of May.
As Dixon romped to the sixth of his championships that year, Palou suffered a difficult season in a notoriously tricky series for rookies to acclimatise to.
He ended the season in 14th place for Dale Coyne Racing. But despite an unspectacular season marred in the midfield, Palou did enough to impress the Chip Ganassi Racing team and earn a move for 2021.
The highlight of his campaign was an impressive performance in just his third IndyCar race at Road America in Wisconsin, where he shared the podium with Dixon and Will Power.
In the first of five doubleheaders that year, his podium finish was followed the next day by a seventh-place finish on a circuit similar to what he was used to in Europe.
After he laid the groundwork in his rookie year, adjusting to a new culture and multiple circuits which he had never raced before, Palou got into his stride in 2021.
On his first race for Chip Ganassi, he started the season perfectly, taking victory at the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park, ahead of Power.
The good form continued into The Month of May, taking second place in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis prior to a third-place finish at the 105th running of the Indy 500.
After a mixed doubleheader at Belle Isle in Detroit, two further wins followed at Road America, the venue of his first IndyCar podium, and at Portland.
Alex Palou is yet to win on an oval despite winning three IndyCar championships
Winning on an oval is incredibly difficult, and it is a different discipline from permanent and street courses on the calendar. Ovals are very few and far between in European racing, which provides an extra hurdle for drivers from Europe switching to IndyCar.
Drivers such as Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden have mastered the art of battling on an oval, winning the Indy 500 twice in a row, taking the lead on the last lap both times.
An oval requires much more commitment than a circuit and the fine margins take much more of a priority. The drivers are often separated by small amounts of time, particularly in qualifying.
Palou has shown superb speed on ovals throughout his IndyCar career, taking pole position for the Indy 500 in 2023 before missing out on victory and finishing fourth.
He has been very close to winning on an oval in 2024, finishing fifth at The Brickyard before taking second place in Race 2 at Iowa behind Power.
How old is Alex Palou and where was he born?
Palou is 27 years old at the time of this writing, having been born on April 1, 1997. He was born in Catalonia, Spain, in a village called Sant Antoni de Vilamajor.
How tall is Alex Palou? What is his height in feet?
Palou stands at 5’11 in feet, which is measured at 165cm.
Is Alex Palou married? Who is his wife?
Palou is married to Esther Valle, and their daughter Lucia was born in December 2023.
What is Alex Palou’s net worth?
Alex Palou’s net worth is estimated at around $2.62 million as of 2022 or £2 million.
Alex Palou’s IndyCar career stats
As of the end of the 2024 season, Palou has won three IndyCar Series titles and taken multiple victories since making his debut in 2020.
IndyCar titles: 3
IndyCar race entries: 81
IndyCar wins: 11
Indy 500 wins: 0
IndyCar poles: 6
IndyCar podiums: 31