Palou domination continues at Indy GP, but only after a fight

Four wins from five races. Five straight triumphs for Honda. A championship lead extended from 60 to 97 points—nearly two full races’ worth of an advantage heading into the Indianapolis 500. Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing have done it again.

“I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far. I owe everything to the team and everyone working behind the scenes to make me look so fast,” Palou said after taking his third straight win at the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

But the No. 10 Honda team’s success on Saturday afternoon wasn’t as easy, nor was it as dull as some of the others he’s aced so far in 2025.

It was looking like Graham Rahal’s day as he jumped polesitter Palou to take the lead at the start and led for 48 laps. Just as his first victory in seven years, 11 months, and six days appeared to be possible, deja vu took control of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as Palou and CGR race strategist Barry Wanser deployed their winning tire usage plan from The Thermal Club to conquer Rahal and the rest of the field.

Thanks to David Malukas who appeared to have an engine problem on lap 68 in the No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, who parked in the grass and triggered the first caution in 408 laps, a late-race restart was required. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward did his best to wrest the lead from Palou but was forced to hold station and finish second, 5.4s behind Palou in the No. 5 Chevy. Team Penske’s Will Power, who jumped teammate Scott McLaughlin in the pits to earn third, was 8.4s down to Palou in the No. 12 Chevy, but secured his ninth podium at the GP.

Alex Palou makes the pass for the lead! #IndyGP #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/p2w4wOK27m

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 10, 2025

“This is a great points day,” O’Ward said. “We need to do something to stop the No. 10 car. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it.”

A warm 80-degree day also featured some impressive drives from deep in the field as Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon did his latest jump forward from 16th to fifth. Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong mirrored his countryman as the New Zealander shot from 15th to seventh while Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood went from 21st to eighth and reclaimed second in the championship. The biggest mover was Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay who traveled from 24th to ninth.

Teams and drivers have two days off before the action resumes on Tuesday with opening practice for the Indy 500.

Key moment

The difference maker for Rahal and Palou was their differing approaches to tire strategy in IndyCar’s first race where all teams were required to run the primary compound twice and the alternate compound twice as well.

For Palou, the call was to start on low-mileage alternates, switch to low-mileage primaries, run a new set of primaries on his third stint, and close the show on a brand-new set of the faster and preferred alternates. Open fast and finish fast.

Saving the best tires for last, just as the No. 10 CGR team did at Thermal which allowed Palou to chase down and pass O’Ward for the win, was a brilliant ploy from Wanser. For Rahal, it was new alternates to start, new primaries to follow, used alternates in the third stint, and a set of new but slower primaries to get to the checkered flag. Open fast and finish slow.

Advantage Palou.

In fact, the final-stint tires weren’t the deciding factor as Palou chased down Rahal in the third stint while on the slower primaries to Rahal’s alternates, and he made the pass for the lead as Rahal plummeted down the order. A painfully slow final pit stop left Rahal in an undeserved sixth, 19.0s away from the winner.

Race notes

Lap 1 and the start isn’t happening. Kyffin Simpson’s P10 start is toast as the car won’t start. Josef Newgarden’s P6 is also compromised as he drove down pit lane before the start and took the start front the back of the field.

Lap 2 and Graham Rahal takes the lead from polesitter Palou. Devlin DeFrancesco slots into third, demoting teammate Louis Foster. Colton Herta has nose damage and pits for repairs as well as Callum Ilott.

Lap 6 and Rahal has 1.1s on Palou.

Lap 7 and Marcus Ericsson has an issue and pits with a suspected engine issue.

Lap 16 and Palou’s 3.4s behind Rahal and has DeFrancesco on his tail.

Lap 17 and Rahal’s up by 4.6s.

Lap 19 and Palou pits to trade used alternates for primaries.

Lap 20 and DeFrancesco pits to go from alternates to alternates.

Lap 21 and Rahal pits from the lead and trades alternates for primaries.

Lap 22 and it’s Rahal, Palou, Scott McLaughlin, and DeFrancesco.

Lap 23 and Rahal’s lead on Palou is down to 0.3s.

Lap 25 and Felix Rosenqvist has a spin and continues down in P19.

Lap 30 and Palou’s down 0.6s and McLaughlin’s 1.1s behind Rahal. A lot of big movement among poor qualifiers with Christian Lundgaard up from P14 to P7. Kyle Kirkwood has gone from P21 to P11 and Rinus VeeKay has motored from P24 to P12.

Lap 39 and Rahal’s lead on Palou is a steady 0.5s.

Lap 40 and the rest of the top 10 is filled by Pato O’Ward in fifth, Will Power, Foster, Alexander Rossi, Dixon, and Marcus Armstrong.

Lap 42 and McLaughlin pits. Lundgaard serves a drive-through for running over the pit exit blend line.

Lap 42 and Rahal and Palou pit at the end of the lap. They leave nose to tail with Rahal in the lead. Rahal takes alternates and Palou gets his second set of primaries on.

Lap 43 and DeFrancesco and O’Ward pit. DeFrancesco stalls.

Lap 44 and Herta, a lap down, passes Palou.

Lap 45 and Herta’s by Rahal, now on the same lap. Rahal’s put 1.5s on Palou.

Lap 49 and Palou is 1.1s behind Rahal.

Lap 53 and Rahal leads Palou by 0.6s. Palou’s saving his push-to-pass, and Rahal’s at 1m13.1s on alternates while Palou is flying on his primaries with a matching 1m13.1s.

Lap 55 and the lead stays at 0.6s and Rahal and Palou both set 1m13.2s laps. Rahal will need to run the slower primaries to close the race and Palou has a new set of alternates awaiting.

Lap 58 and Palou is running 0.1s per lap faster than Rahal, has the lead down to 0.1s.

Lap 59 and Palou challenges Rahal into Turn 1. No luck, put gets it done at the end of the back straight into Turn 7. Rahal led 48 laps up to that point and complained about the back of the car losing stability.

Lap 61 and Palou re-laps Herta. His lead over Rahal is 2.5s.

Lap 63 and the lead is 6.1s. Palou’s doing it again.

Lap 64 and Rahal pits. McLaughlin inherits second, 8.2s down to Palou. Very slow stop for Rahal, which has seen an amazing day go south.

Lap 65 and McLaughlin pits for new alternates. O’Ward uses an undercut to overtake McLaughlin.

Lap 67 and Palou and Dixon pit.

Lap 68 and Palou has 8.5s over O’Ward and 9.8s on Power, who jumped McLaughlin in the pits.

Lap 71 and Palou has 10.2s on O’Ward.

Lap 72 and it finally happened! David Malukas pulled aside with smoke coming from his exhausts. We have a caution after 408 laps of green action. Can O’Ward take the lead from Palou?

Lap 74 restart and Palou holds onto the lead as O’Ward looks down the inside.

Lap 75 and Palou is up 0.8s on O’Ward and 1.6s on Power.

Lap 83 and Palou is sitting on 5.3s over O’Ward. Two laps to go.

Lap 85 and Palou wins by 5.4s. Ridiculous.

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