Álex Palou

Álex Palou Montalbo (born 1 April 1997) is a Spanish racing driver born in Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain. He currently drives for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series. He became the first Spanish racing driver to win a GP3 race when he took the victory of the final round of his debut season, held at the Yas Marina Circuit of Abu Dhabi, in 2015.

Alex Palou during 2020 season.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Palou and the second or maternal family name is Montalbo.

Racing career

Karting

Born in Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Palou began karting in 2003.[1] His biggest karting achievement was the championship title in the WSK Euro Series in 2012.[2]

Euroformula Open

Palou made his open-wheel racing debut, competing in the Euroformula Open Championship with Campos Racing in 2014.[3] He bookended the season, winning the opening race at the Nürburgring and the final race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He also won a race at the Hungaroring to finish third in the series standings, missing out on the runner-up placing by just one point to Artur Janosz.[4]

2015

In 2015, Palou graduated to the GP3 Series with Campos Racing. During the first half of the season he suffered major reliability issues as well as some driving mistakes due to his lack of experience, but his results improved along the season and he closed the year with a victory at Abu Dhabi.

At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya of Spain,[5] Palou qualified fourth for the first race, but he slipped the clutch at the start and lost any opportunity to fight for the points. He made another bad start at the second race.

At the Red Bull Ring of Austria,[6] Palou had another bad weekend. Starting from third, he stalled the engine at the start. He later admitted he felt nervous after the mistakes from Barcelona and that that might have contributed to those new errors. He did not finish the second race because of a crash at the first lap.

At the Silverstone Circuit of England,[7] a gear-box sensor failed when Palou was driving fifth. He was forced to retire and subsequently had to start the second race from the last place of the grid. He managed to overtake eleven cars, eight of them in the first lap, to finish 13th.

At the Hungaroring from Hungary,[8] Palou started seventh and moved up to fifth until a car hit him from behind. He suffered a puncture and was forced to pit. Starting from the bottom of the grid for the second race, he wrapped up the weekend with an 18th place.

At the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit from Belgium,[9] Palou scored his first points in GP3 as the season passed its halfway point. Struggling with tyre wear and lack of speed, the Campos Racing driver finished in 7th place in the first race. He led most part of the second race, but eventually fell back to fifth because of the lack of top speed. He later argued that Esteban Ocon was scrapping 0,5 seconds per lap just in the first sector, where the Kemmel Straight was found.

At the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza[10] from Italy, Palou had another difficult weekend because of the lack of top speed. Using the same engine he raced in Belgium, he managed to finish seventh in the first race and subsequently started the second one from the front row. He made "The Great Mistake" (as he wrote in his column) when during the warm-up lap he spun at the main straight and nearly hit the wall. Although his car was not damaged, he fell back to tenth.

At the Sochi Autodrom from Russia,[11] Palou received a new engine that solved the top speed problems he suffered in Belgium and Italy. Because of Carlos Sainz crash during Russian Grand Prix Free Practice 3, the first race of the weekend was moved to Sunday. Palou qualified just a tenth away from Pole Position and scored a provisional season high in the first race when he crossed the line in fourth place. He immediately scored a provisional season high when he crossed the line in fourth place. He was ninth in the second one.

At the Bahrain International Circuit of Bahrain,[12] Palou suffered yet again more reliability issues. He started from fourth, but during the warm-up lap a gas sensor failed and the car kept on accelerating when the driver lifted the throttle. He decided to enter the Pit-Lane and retire. Because of this, he started the second race from the last place. He gained 14 positions, but ended up tenth and outside from the points.

At the Yas Marina Circuit from Abu Dhabi,[13] Palou won his race in GP3 and became the first Spanish driver to ever get a victory in the series. After being eighth in the first race, he held Pole Position for the second one. Worried about tyre wear, he targeted for a podium finish. He held the lead at the start and slowly started to pull away from the field. He crossed the line with a 4.4 second margin to Carlin's Antonio Fuoco.

2016

Palou continued to race for Campos Racing in his second season in GP3. He scored a second place at the Silverstone sprint race and a fifth place at the Yas Marina sprint race. He ranked 15th in the overall standings.

2017

Palou moved to Japan in 2017 to compete in Japanese Formula 3 for Threebond with Drago Corse. He won three races but finished the year third in the championship behind Mitsunori Takaboshi and Sho Tsuboi.

Palou also raced with Teo Martín Motorsport in three rounds of the 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship, where he won three poles and a race. This partial season earned him 10th in the championship. Palou finished 2017 with Campos Racing in two Formula 2 rounds, where he scored 5 points. Palou led the majority of the Jerez sprint race from reverse grid pole, but ultimately, he could not hang on to the lead with his heavily worn tires and finished 8th. These two rounds finished Palou 21st in the championship.

2018

In 2018, Palou returned to Europe full-time for a full season with Hitech Bullfrog GP in the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship. He scored 7 podiums and ended the year 7th in the championship.

2019

Palou moved back to Japan in 2019 to compete full-time with McLaren Customer Racing Japan in the Super GT GT300 class and TCS Nakajima Racing in Super Formula. In Super GT, Palou was partnered with 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Seiji Ara. As a team, they scored one podium at Autopolis but ultimately finished 15th in the championship. In Super Formula, Palou had far more success. He won at Fuji Speedway from pole position and, after qualifying on pole at the final round at Suzuka, he looked to be the championship favorite. A problem with the ventilation duct early in the race immensely slowed Palou's car down and he finished 19th in the race. This dropped him to 3rd in the championship in the end.

Palou also tested an IndyCar in July 2019 with Dale Coyne Racing at Mid-Ohio.[14]

2020

On December 19, 2019, it was announced that Palou would move to the IndyCar Series for a rookie campaign with Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh.[15]

In his first race for the team at the 2020 Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway he was taken out by fellow rookie Rinus VeeKay. He took his first IndyCar podium at Road America.

2021

Mere days after completing his rookie IndyCar season, it was announced that Palou was signed by Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2021 IndyCar Series season.[16]

Racing record

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2014 Euroformula Open Championship Campos Racing 16 3 3 4 11 242 3rd
Spanish Formula 3 Championship 6 1 1 1 5 105 2nd
Macau Grand Prix Fortec Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 16th
BRDC Formula 4 Championship Sean Walkinshaw Racing 3 0 0 0 0 48 23rd
2015 GP3 Series Campos Racing 18 1 0 1 1 51 10th
2016 GP3 Series 18 0 0 0 1 22 15th
2017 Japanese Formula 3 Championship Threebond with Drago Corse 20 3 5 3 10 102 3rd
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th
World Series Formula V8 3.5 Teo Martín Motorsport 6 1 3 1 3 68 10th
FIA Formula 2 Championship Campos Racing 4 0 0 0 0 5 21st
2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Hitech Bullfrog GP 30 0 0 2 7 204 7th
Macau Grand Prix B-Max Racing Team 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2019 Super GT - GT300 McLaren Customer Racing Japan 7 0 1 0 1 20 15th
Super Formula TCS Nakajima Racing 7 1 3 2 1 26 3rd
2020 IndyCar Series Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh 14 0 0 1 1 238 16th

* Season still in progress.

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2015 Campos Racing CAT
FEA
12		 CAT
SPR
20		 RBR
FEA
14		 RBR
SPR
Ret		 SIL
FEA
Ret		 SIL
SPR
13		 HUN
FEA
19		 HUN
SPR
18		 SPA
FEA
7		 SPA
SPR
5		 MNZ
FEA
7		 MNZ
SPR
10		 SOC
FEA
4		 SOC
SPR
9		 BHR
FEA
Ret		 BHR
SPR
10		 YMC
FEA
8		 YMC
SPR
1		 10th 51
2016 Campos Racing CAT
FEA
19		 CAT
SPR
14		 RBR
FEA
16		 RBR
SPR
11		 SIL
FEA
10		 SIL
SPR
2		 HUN
FEA
11		 HUN
SPR
14		 HOC
FEA
16		 HOC
SPR
19†		 SPA
FEA
13		 SPA
SPR
11		 MNZ
FEA
11		 MNZ
SPR
7		 SEP
FEA
14		 SEP
SPR
19		 YMC
FEA
10		 YMC
SPR
5		 15th 22

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete World Series Formula V8 3.5 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2017 Teo Martín Motorsport SIL
1		 SIL
2		 SPA
1		 SPA
2		 MNZ
1		 MNZ
2		 JER
1		 JER
2		 ALC
1		 ALC
2		 NÜR
1
11		 NÜR
2
1		 MEX
1
3		 MEX
2
Ret		 COA
1
5		 COA
2
2		 BHR
1		 BHR
2		 10th 68

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2017 Campos Racing BHR
FEA		 BHR
SPR		 CAT
FEA		 CAT
SPR		 MON
FEA		 MON
SPR		 BAK
FEA		 BAK
SPR		 RBR
FEA		 RBR
SPR		 SIL
FEA		 SIL
SPR		 HUN
FEA		 HUN
SPR		 SPA
FEA		 SPA
SPR		 MNZ
FEA		 MNZ
SPR		 JER
FEA
8		 JER
SPR
8		 YMC
FEA
12		 YMC
SPR
12		 21st 5

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2018 Hitech Bullfrog GP Mercedes PAU
1
7		 PAU
2
2		 PAU
3
19		 HUN
1
12		 HUN
2
3		 HUN
3
Ret		 NOR
1
11		 NOR
2
4		 NOR
3
Ret		 ZAN
1
10		 ZAN
2
4		 ZAN
3
6		 SPA
1
2		 SPA
2
11		 SPA
3
9		 SIL
1
7		 SIL
2
11		 SIL
3
7		 MIS
1
8		 MIS
2
2		 MIS
3
6		 NÜR
1
Ret		 NÜR
2
6		 NÜR
3
3		 RBR
1
3		 RBR
2
Ret		 RBR
3
10		 HOC
1
4		 HOC
2
8		 HOC
3
3		 7th 204

Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2019 McLaren Customer Racing Japan McLaren 720S GT3 GT300 OKA
19		 FUJ
14		 SUZ
13		 CHA FUJ
Ret		 AUT
2		 SUG
12		 MOT
7		 15th 20

Complete Super Formula Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 DC Points
2019 TCS Nakajima Racing SUZ
Ret		 AUT
6		 SUG
13		 FUJ
1		 MOT
4		 OKA
4		 SUZ
19		 3rd 26

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2020 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh Dallara DW12 Honda TXS
23		 IMS
19		 ROA
3		 ROA
7		 IOW
11		 IOW
14		 INDY
28		 GTW
15		 GTW
12		 MDO
12		 MDO
23		 IMS
17		 IMS
9		 STP
13		 16th 238

Indianapolis 500
Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2020 Dallara Honda 7 28 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh

References
  1. "About Alex". alexpalou.com. Alex Palou. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. "WSK Euro Series — KF3 2012 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  3. David, Gruz (22 April 2014). "Palou secures full-time drive with Campos Racing". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  4. David, Gruz (2 November 2014). "Palou wins to end Euroformula Open season in style". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  5. "La columna de Alex Palou: Banderas y decepciones". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  6. "La columna de Alex Palou: Toca hacer autocrítica tras Austria". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  7. "La columna de Alex Palou: La remontada de Silverstone". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  8. "La columna de Alex Palou: Motivación intacta pese a todo". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  9. "La columna de Alex Palou: Puntos en Spa, fuerza para Campos Racing". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  10. "La columna de Alex Palou: Luchar en Monza sin velocidad punta". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  11. "La columna de Alex Palou: Ahora sí que vamos por el camino correcto". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  12. "La columna de Alex Palou: Calma ante todos los problemas de 2015". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  13. "La columna de Alex Palou: Una victoria para todo el mundo". LaF1.es. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  14. "Spain's Palou tests with Coyne". RACER.com. RACER. 31 July 2019.
  15. "Alex Palou joins Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh for 2020 IndyCar Season". Dalecoyneracing.com. Dale Coyne Racing. 19 December 2019.
  16. Pruett, Marshall (29 October 2020). "Palou joins Ganassi for 2021". Racer. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

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