The IndyCar champion and former McLaren “protégé” has commented on the outcome of the Formula 1 season, without holding back a few pointed remarks aimed at his former team.
A champion from another world
In a parallel universe, the kind imagined in films inspired by the “Sliding Doors” concept, where a single different detail is enough to completely change the lives of the protagonists, the 2025 Formula 1 world champion might well have been him: Alex Palou. Instead, the 28-year-old Spaniard – former McLaren Academy driver and now involved in a legal dispute with the British team over how he was treated – has had to “settle” for being the undisputed superstar of IndyCar, with four titles won, including the 2025 crown, in the last five seasons.
Speaking to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Palou stepped into the role of analyst and reflected on what happened during the most recent Formula 1 season. The year ended with an intense three-way title fight between McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen, with whom Palou had briefly been a team-mate during their karting days. The championship ultimately went to Norris, but Palou is among those who believe that, with the cars swapped, the outcome of the world championship would have been very different.
With Max in papaya, no title fight
“Would Max have been champion with the McLaren? Absolutely yes. He would have won weeks earlier, two months earlier,” the Spaniard stated. His comment echoes what the Red Bull driver himself said during the closing stages of the season, when he made it clear that a fifth consecutive title would not have slipped away from him at the wheel of the MCL39.
Alex Palou was then asked another question, a far more uncomfortable one given the legal case currently ongoing: could he himself have become Formula 1 world champion with this McLaren?
“Would I have become champion with the McLaren? I think so, but I don’t know,” said the Chip Ganassi Racing driver with honesty. “I think I could have fought for it, but we will never know. Maybe I would have got in the car and it would have been half a second slower. I’ve only driven the McLaren once, so it’s difficult to say. I could have been in the championship fight, but I wouldn’t have won it two months earlier. Max is the only one who would have done that,” he concluded.
Alex Palou’s comments add a fascinating layer to the “what if” narrative of the 2025 season, highlighting the high regard in which Verstappen is held by his peers across the Atlantic, while also hinting at the untapped potential of a driver who many believe belongs on the F1 grid alongside the very names he is now analyzing.
Leave a Reply