Alex Palou takes U-turn on F1 switch days after refuting Red Bull rumors

Chip Ganassi Racing star Alex Palou came out and refuted the reports of Red Bull’s interest in signing the Spaniard as Max Verstappen's teammate. As the IndyCar driver arrived in Nashville ahead of the final race of the season, he refused the reports, but also took a one-eighty on the possibility of an F1 switch.

The Spaniard came into the 2025 season as the defending champion and dominated, winning eight races so far, including the Indy 500. As Palou became the first Spanish driver to win the iconic race at the IMS, he was questioned about his F1 ambitions, to which he replied,

“F1 is not calling me anymore,” (via IndyStar.)

As Alex Palou secured the 2025 IndyCar title, IndyStar reported that Red Bull has interest in signing the four-time IndyCar champion as Max Verstappen's teammate. However, Palou manager, Roger Yasukawa, and CGR’s owner, Chip Ganassi, came out and refuted these claims just days after the rumors emerged.

As the CGR driver arrived at the Nashville Superspeedway, he addressed the rumors suggesting that he had neither had any conversations with the Milton Keynes-based team nor had Red Bull reached out to him or his manager. Palou was then questioned if he'd consider a move to Red Bull if the team did approach him, to which he replied,

“You never know. I think in the past I looked for opportunities [of F1] in like 2022. Now it's not that way. At the same time, you don't want to close any doors. You never know, same as I wouldn't close any other series. What I know is I'm good here, I know what I'm capable of doing here. But, it's good to hear, don't get me wrong.” (1:40 onwards)

Alex Palou signed a contract with Arrow McLaren in 2022 to drive for the Papaya team in 2023, which was delayed to 2024 after mediation with CGR. However, the Spaniard did fulfil the role of McLaren's reserve driver for the F1 team in 2023.

With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri signing long-term contracts at McLaren, Palou was no longer interested in joining the Papaya team as a full-time IndyCar driver and the reserve for the F1 team, and refused to honor the contract.

Alex Palou spoke with The Race after the 2024 IndyCar season and detailed how he plans on racing in IndyCar for the foreseeable future.

“It's not a secret that I did a lot of stuff to try to get into F1 in the past that didn't help in my career in IndyCar, and that created a lot of drama around my name and my team,” said Palou

“I'm happy here. I'm not knocking on doors,” he added

From “not knocking any doors” and “F1 is not calling me” to “don't want to close any doors”, Alex Palou took a U-Turn about his F1 ambitions.

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Alex Palou’s boss calls the Red Bull rumors a “clickbait”

CGR owner Chip Ganassi came out earlier this week and shared his take on the Alex Palou-Red Bull rumor. The team owner revealed that he's spoken with the four-time IndyCar champion and called the story clickbait. He said,

“I read that (story) myself, and there was nobody quoted in there. I talked to Palou. Palou says he’s never talked to them [Red Bull], and doesn’t know anything about it. I talked to his management, and they know nothing about it, and I know nothing about it. I think it’s a clickbait story and somebody needs to brush up on their investigative journalism.”

Alex Palou became the fourth IndyCar driver to win three consecutive IndyCar titles after his 2025 triumph, and now sets his sights on Scott Dixon and AJ Foyt’s championship records.