Alex Palou is enjoying a fantastic season in IndyCar, comfortably leading the standings and on track to secure another Championship in the Americas. In this context, the Spaniard has been mentioned as a favourite to join AlphaTauri.
Palou impressed in his free practice session with McLaren last season, showing competitive pace in the MCL36 in both short and long runs.
Adding this to his performances in IndyCar (alongside the fact he is relatively young at 26), he is certainly a valuable asset in the Formula 1 driver market.
Colton Herta was on track to sign with AlphaTauri last season – were it not for his Superlicense issues – so it stands to reason that Palou could be considered.
Speaking in an interview, the IndyCar Champion discussed his chances of joining the grid in 2023:
“Regarding possible opportunities in Formula 1, honestly, I don’t know,” he told the Spanish outlet ‘El Confidencial’.
“Last year, it was said that – were it not for the superlicense – Herta would have 100% gone to AlphaTauri, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with them.
“I would like a seat, but if there isn’t one, I can’t complain about how well things are going on here – I am happy.
“At the moment, there is not much movement, but it is possible there is more in the future – or maybe everything stays the same as it is now.
“Red Bull has something they didn’t last year: a very good driver competing in SuperFormula [Lawson], and he is doing a very good job.
“But you never know.”
Alex Palou is correct to identify Liam Lawson as a candidate to join AlphaTauri next season, especially given his current performances in SuperFormula.
More generally, amidst Helmut Marko’s recent comments about Nyck de Vries, Palou’s assessment of potential movement at AlphaTauri is correct.
With that said, the Spaniard is aware of the multitude of junior drivers that Red Bull has available, which will likely reduce his chances.
However, for the reasons mentioned earlier in this article, Palou could be a boost for several teams further down the grid – and so may be an important part of driver market discussions in 2023.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
