Alex Palou will start 14th in the Indy500 for the Chip Ganassi Racing Team. However, last year he stormed to pole and then led the charge at the start of the race last season.
The two-time IndyCar Champion may be starting down in 14th but he is also the top driver from the Chip Ganassi Racing Team, something that they will not be used to. This is the first time since the 2019 Indy500 that the team has failed to put a single car inside the top 12.
At Media Day yesterday ahead of the final Indy500 Practice session Palou was asked about the big difference in Qualifying this year for Chip Ganassi Racing when compared to last:
“Yeah, big difference, obviously, to last year,” said Palou, who leads the IndyCar Championship as it stands.
“We don’t know. I mean, we don’t know if that’s what we lost or if we didn’t really gain or if everybody improved a lot. Obviously, we lost some speed if you look at the qualifying speeds, we had last year and this year. We lost a little bit.
“On race trim, it doesn’t feel as different. But yeah, it’s for everybody in the team that we lost some speed.
“We thought we did all the work we had to do to try and be a little bit better than last year, but maybe with the small changes that IndyCar had with the gearboxes, the housing and all that stuff, that just didn’t help us at all.”
After talking about his poor qualifying performance the Spaniard then went on to discuss how he is still confident for the race.
“Last year we were super comfortable in the race, and I would say it was pretty easy to pass,” Palou said.
“Otherwise dropping to 28th or something on lap 100. We were able to make passes and finish in the top 5.
“I think this year, we still are able to pass, but it’s not as easy. You need to work a lot more. You need to wait a lot more. So yeah, we’re struggling a little bit more. That doesn’t mean that we’re completely off, and especially at this race.
“But yeah, we have some work to do.”
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