Indianapolis, IN – Alex Palou earned the pole for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average run (10 miles) of 232.248 mph, edging out Alexander Rossi (231.990 mph) and David Malukas (231.877 mph), who will start alongside him in the first of 11 rows. Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 comes down to how much risk versus reward a driver and team is willing to take.
“These guys did incredible work today,” explained Palou, who earned his first Indy 500 pole in 2023. “I didn’t expect to be this fast today. Thank you to my wife for drawing the number 31 to qualify, because she was very worried. The late draw allowed us to work on the (track) conditions.
“Getting into the Fast 12, we didn’t have any margin,” revealed Palou, who’s now earned three poles in seven races this season and captured his 15th career pole. “The track conditions were 15 degrees warmer than when all these guys had run and made it into the top-12. We were maybe a top-five or top-six car. We did not expect to be on pole. Heading into the Fast 6, it was going to be a close fight between the 60 (Felix Rosenqvist), the 12 (David Malukas) and us. For us, qualifying just got better and faster. For everybody else, it just got slower and greasier. We saw a lot more mistakes or just people not being able to be flat-out.
“The team and the people I have around me allow me just to focus on myself without worrying about the car,” continued Palou. “I told my engineers what I needed and what I feel (from the car). I don’t want to get involved in the decisions to what we do to the car. They just did some stuff that made it a lot faster. It’s basically just speed and balance. Normally, when you go out and you are slow, you try to trim to make the car faster, but then the balance goes away. We went very, very aggressive (on car setup) to try and get the pole. The car in the Fast 6 was incredible. The emotion was a lot higher because we did not expect it at all.”
Prior to Chip Ganassi Racing celebrating their ninth Indianapolis 500 pole, driver Alex Palou was given a multi-year extension beyond 2027.
“The team, driver, engine … it’s everything,” stated team owner Chip Ganassi. “It’s so close and competitive in the INDYCAR series. It’s brutal. It’s never over until it’s over. We still have to go 500 miles in the race. I’m excited with all three cars in the Fast 12. I’m very proud of the whole team.”
Alexander Rossi won his first Indianapolis 500 in 2016 as a rookie, based on excellent pit and fuel strategy. The American competed in five F1 races before joining INDYCAR.
“On days like this, with the wind being as strong as it is, both ends of the track behave differently,” described Rossi. “With the hybrid, there are different options that you have from a strategic standpoint during the run based on those conditions. It’s always changing. You have to manage that and stay on it to balance the car. It’s really hard to be in a big pack here (in the race). To be in the front group will make your race day easier and allow you to be a little bit more aggressive on strategy.
“The most stressful part of the day was the first run just because you didn’t have that security blanket of being able to go again,” added Rossi. “Usually in qualifying here, if you get a poor draw, you can bounce back from it because you’ve got hours to go out and make changes and improvements. It demanded very good execution from the team and my side in order to ensure the transfer into the top-12. That was one of the harder qualifying days I’ve had around here. Every run around here you learn something new.”
David Malukas, who replaced Will Power at Team Penske this season, earned the team its 50th front row start.
“The goal was to get on the front row,” said Malukas, who leads his Penske teammates in the title fight, currently ranked third. “The chemistry is so high on the team. Everybody is having such a good time, but we’re all very competitive. The whole crew is pushing 110%. I get a full night’s rest when those guys are working their butts off. I have all the information by the time practice, qualifying, or the race comes in, so I’m a lot calmer.
“Qualifying was tough and scary,” continued Malukas. “You come out of Turn Four and you get the headwind. All of a sudden, it pins your front nose (front wing) down and the car is all over the place. Then you try to come out of Turn Two, and it just feels good. Then you lose the front (going into Turn 3) and it feels like you’re going into the wall. It was really hard. You are so busy adjusting the tools (weight jacker and sway bars). And, you have the hybrid strategy. That was the toughest qualifying I can remember in a while.”
The two-day qualifying format was shortened to just one day, Sunday, May 17, due to several rain storms washing out Saturday. All 33 drivers were given one attempt, which determined the Fast 12. From that group, drivers advanced to the Fast Six shootout for the front two rows and the pole, having taken additional risk by qualifying a total of three times.
Making it even more challenging to find the fastest car set-up was the 20-degree Fahrenheit (about 11-degree Celsius) temperature increase from the four days of practice, when temps were in the mid-60’s (about 17-19 Celsius). Teams had to stay on top of the weather, wind and track temperatures, which were increasing one degree Fahrenheit for every car that made a qualifying run (takes about 5.5 minutes) starting at noon.
Then, during the Fast Six, which started around 6 p.m., the true Happy Hour at Indianapolis resulted in faster speeds due to the front straightaway covered in shade as the setting sun moved west. The track temperature was dropping one degree for every run.
Drivers who made the Fast 12 were Felix Rosenqvist, David Malukas, Conor Daly, Scott McLaughlin, Rinus VeeKay, Alexander Rossi, Caio Collet, Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Santino Ferrucci, Alex Palou, and Kyffin Simpson. Making it into the Fast Six, with a second qualifying attempt, were Rosenqvist, Malukas, Rossi, O’Ward, Ferrucci, and Palou.
Most surprisingly, after every driver made their four-lap/10-mile run, the Andretti Global team of Will Power, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson did not make it into the Fast 12 group. Nor did Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel. Josef Newgarden was the only Penske driver who failed to advance. Last year’s second-fastest driver, Takuma Sato, driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was bumped out of the Fast 12 by Chip Ganassi’s Simpson.
Ferrucci, who advanced from the Fast 12 into the Fast Six, told his AJ Foyt Racing team’s President, Larry Foyt, that he would drive whatever they gave him. The car could be conservative and safe or completely trimmed out with downforce removed for maximum speed, going for the pole. Larry was to determine the amount of risk taken.
“You can’t win anything today,” AJ Foyt told Ferrucci, about having the potential to crash with a very risky, trimmed out qualifying setup. “But you can lose everything today.”
Not entirely true. Winning pole position for the Indianapolis 500 offers the winner a cheque for US $100,000 and 12 championship points.
With only 33 entries for the 33-car field, all drivers were assured of a starting spot on the grid. The No. 4 (Caio Collet) and No. 24 (Jack Harvey) cars were disqualified for using an illegal cover to the EMS system and unapproved A arm parts. Their times were eliminated and they were moved to the back of the grid. The full starting grid can be found here.
There were no incidents at the track until the two-hour practice session on the day after Qualifying, where teams change over their cars from being trimmed out for qualifying to their actual race set-up to run in traffic.
Alexander Rossi lost control entering Turn Two, resulting in Pato O’Ward putting his car into a spin in avoidance, only to still make contact with Rossi. Also involved was Romain Grosjean, who spun in reaction and hit both the outside and inside Turn Two walls. While the cars can be repaired, teams spend weeks preparing their Indy 500 cars by going over every detail, removing any drag. Should a back-up car be needed, these special tweaks won’t have time to be included.
The greatest spectacle in racing, the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, takes place this Sunday, May 24. The race starts at approximately 12:45 p.m. ET and will be televised on FOX, CTV 2 and TSN 3.
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