Every legend has its moment, and Alex Palou’s 2025 season is defining his. The 28-year-old phenom has already secured an eighth win out of 15 starts, including a historic Indianapolis 500 triumph, and has clinched his fourth championship in five years. It ties him to icons such as Dario Franchitti and Sébastien Bourdais with three consecutive titles, and only trails legends A.J. Foyt and Scott Dixon in total crowns. With 670 points amassed in 16 races and a commanding presence that led Chip Ganassi Racing to tie Team Penske with 17 IndyCar titles, Palou’s dominance is undeniable. But with such a meteoric rise comes more than applause; it draws attention from motorsports titans waiting in the wings.

In recent days, the IndyCar paddock has been buzzing with one of the sport’s biggest bombshells in years. According to reports, Red Bull Racing has expressed interest in placing four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou in a Formula 1 ride for 2026 alongside Max Verstappen, its own four-time world champion. Despite his dominant 2025 season, as the news broke, Palou immediately distanced himself from the rumors, revealing that he had no involvement or knowledge of such discussions, while his manager, Roger Yasukawa, and Chip Ganassi Racing representative echoed that denial. Still, the fact remains that Palou’s Ganassi contract, which runs through 2026, includes an F1 out-clause, leaving the door cracked open just enough for speculation to spiral.

Why Chip Ganassi isn’t worried about losing his star

Asked directly about how he intends to keep Palou away from such temptations, Ganassi leaned into the happiness and stability his star has found under the team’s wins. “Look, Alex will be the first to tell you he’s enjoying himself here,” Ganassi reiterated his confidence in his star. “He likes it. He’s on a long-term contract now. He’s happy. He’s got his family here in Indianapolis. And he tells me he couldn’t be happier doing what he’s doing. So I take him at his word.” Those words reflect a quiet confidence rooted not in legal contracts or financial muscle, but in the culture and consistency CGR has built over 35 years. Yet, history has shown that when Formula 1 comes knocking, words alone aren’t enough.

That thin crack is significant because it wouldn’t be the first time Palou has flirted with Formula 1, nor the first time Ganassi has had to fend off suitors. His turbulent 2022 summer saw him wrangle to join McLaren Racing, sparking a legal battle after Ganassi claimed to have exercised a team option to keep him through 2023. Just a year later, McLaren and Palou were again locked in contractual strife after he backed out of a signed 2024-26 deal, prompting a $30 million lawsuit now winding its way through the U.K. Commercial Court. Against that backdrop, Red Bull‘s rumored pursuit feels like déjà vu for both Ganassi and Palou, only this time, the stakes are higher with F1’s reigning dynasty making the call.

Ganassi is well aware of the caliber of the driver he has on his hands. In his team’s 35th season, Palou’s dominance has placed him in conversations usually reserved for IndyCar’s all-time legends. When asked about where Palou fits alongside the likes of A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and Al Unser, Ganassi did not hesitate to answer. “Well, you could certainly say he’s got to be in the conversation with those guys,” he replied. “If not right at the top. So, I mean, he’s right there. You look at his success in less than 100 races is incredible. It’s unbelievable.” That comparison isn’t hyperbole. Palou’s eight wins in 2025 alone, his first Indianapolis 500 victory, and four championships before age 30 put him firmly in uncharted territory.

But while Ganassi emphasizes loyalty and legacy, Red Bull’s timing may prove too strategic to ignore. Not since the fourth race of the 2023 season has a Red Bull teammate of Verstappen won a Grand Prix, and Palou’s combination of consistency, composure, and raw speed makes him the kind of talent the F1 juggernaut may covet to fill its perennial second-seal dilemma. The IndyCar champ himself once said that F1 was “no longer calling me,” but also admitted: “There’s not many seats I’d consider changing (for). I don’t really know there’s many seats I’d want to be in compared to the No. 10 car right now. It’s pretty tough to beat.” That statement leaves a sliver of intrigue, because if there’s any seat capable of tempting Palou away from Ganassi’s No. 10 Honda, it might just be the one sitting next to Max Verstappen.

Roger Penske’s IndyCar links up with NASCAR in bold 2026 experiment

For the first time ever, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will share a race weekend with Roger Penske’s IndyCar on the streets of St. Petersburg. The Truck race is locked in for February 28, 2026, followed by IndyCar’s season opener on March 1. NASCAR’s Ben Kennedy praised the collaboration, saying, “Yeah, potentially. We’re going to collaborate with them on the St. Pete race next year … there are a lot of natural opportunities for us to work closer together.” This alignment marks a groundbreaking experiment in American motorsports.

Kennedy was quick to frame the event as more than just a flashy crossover; it was a calculated test to run for the future. “I think St. Pete next year will be a good kind of case study for us. We’ve had examples of it, of racing at Indianapolis in the past … IndyCar going to Iowa for a number of years, they came and raced at Richmond for a handful of years as well.” While history shows NASCAR and IndyCar sharing venues before, St. Petersburg offers something different: both series in the same spotlight, and on the same weekend.

Looking further ahead, Kennedy made it clear that Penske’s IndyCar group could become a long-term partner in reshaping NASACR weekends. “Really important for us to continue to have the relationship. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more opportunities for us to work closer together with them.” If successful, the St. Petersburg showcase could open doors for more shared weekends, stronger broadcast partnerships, and a fresh era of collaboration between NASCAR and IndyCar under Roger Penske‘s leadership.