Àlex Palou: "Being a father hasn't changed me; when I'm piloting, I don't think about my daughter."

BarcelonaÀlex Palou (San Antonio de Vilamajor, 1997) made history in 2021 when he became the first Catalan driver—and the second European, after Frenchman Simon Pagenaud—to win the IndyCar Series, the most prestigious motorsport competition in the United States. Today, Palou has four titles under his belt. The latest came in 2025, a memorable year in which he also won the legendary Indianapolis 500.

What's it like having your face on a trophy?

— It's cool! It's fun! It's one of those traditions I didn't know about as a kid, and I didn't understand it either. But once you're there, when you get involved, you see the culture, the reasons behind it… All you want is to win the Indianapolis 500 just to be part of that trophy. Having achieved it is incredible.

How are you handling the popularity? I imagine you're a superstar in the United States.

— I wouldn't call myself a superstar. Maybe in Indiana, where there are more races, I'm better known. But not there. At most, someone might say hello now and then. And I'm happy with that.

How did you get started?

— I was lucky that I took it as one hobby At first, this was a world for the rich. It's not a world you can live on an average person's salary. I drove a go-kart, which was basically just an engine and little else. The idea was to go for drives and spend the weekend together as a family. While the others went to play football, I raced go-karts.

Was it very expensive?

— At that time, costs weren't high. It was just gas and not much else. We didn't have many resources either. Keep in mind that my father was 19 when he had me, and my mother was 17. In fact, my father was the mechanic. And he was a salesman by trade. He didn't know the first thing about mechanics!

As?

— [Laughs.] He liked cars like anyone else. That's all. But in those early days, they only had to press five knobs, and that was easy to learn. Just enough so they didn't have to pay someone to be a mechanic.

And how does one go from this to becoming a professional pilot?

— I always had someone helping me with the bare minimum to survive karting. If a team came along and thought of me for the Catalan championship, my father would also act as a mechanic to keep costs down. Later, my uncle would do it. From the Catalan championship, I moved on to the Spanish championship. And that's how people and companies started giving me opportunities every year.

I imagine you dreamed of Formula 1.

— It was the only thing I had in mind when I was between 5 and 10 years old and karting. It was what I saw on TV and what I wanted. But as I got older, around 13 or 14, I started to understand how this world worked. That there are only 20 seats in F1 and that it's for the privileged: it doesn't just depend on you, you also need who knows how many millions behind you. I understood that it wasn't feasible, so my goal was no longer F1, it was to be a driver. I don't care if it's cars, trucks, tractors, or Formula One cars.

How did you get into IndyCar?

— I tried Formula 3, but it didn't go well. Although it wasn't a big deal for me. I was always thinking, "What else is there?" I went to Japan, and there the possibility of making the jump to IndyCar opened up. It was feasible. It depended on speed and results, not on the millions I had behind me. It was the biggest championship I could reach. After Formula 1, it has the most races, the most prestige, and is perhaps the hardest to win.

The downside is that salaries are lower.

— Don't overthink it. If you're talking about Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton… maybe there are six or seven drivers with stratospheric salaries. But only them. The rest are far below that. In fact, I think the top four in IndyCar have salaries that would be in the middle range of F1, so we can't complain about anything. Besides, we can go for a coffee anywhere without worrying…

You have four IndyCar titles and an Indianapolis 500 win. Has no one from F1 come looking for you?

— I was a reserve driver for McLaren in 2022. I did some testing. My idea was to have a longer stint there, but it didn't work out. The problem in Formula 1 is that it depends so much on the car. You can be very good, but if the car isn't good... We've already seen that with Alonso. What I want is to win. That's what makes me happy and fulfilled. The way things are going, I don't want to change anything.

You have a daughter who just turned two. Hasn't that influenced you as a pilot? By making you more cautious, for example.

— When I get in the car, I don't think about it. I haven't made any different decisions on the track. That's just how I am as a driver. And if I stop being the driver I am, maybe I'll change as a person too. My wife knows that. Being a father hasn't changed me. I think it's helped me. At first, I thought it would affect me, but it's been the opposite. Now I work harder.

How is this possible?

— For example, when I have a bad day on the court, under normal circumstances I'd be marking two or three days off. But I get home and see her, and it turns out that all she wants is to play and she doesn't even know or care about what happened on the court. Seeing that you're the most important thing to her makes those bad moments turn into good ones.

What's left for you to do?

— Everything. I want to keep competing. To improve as a driver, try to improve the team, try to improve the car... So that when I retire, I can look back and see many championships and many Indy 500s. But I'm not chasing a specific number; I just want to have fun and keep competing at the same level as today.