Alexander Rossi names most "annoying" aspect of "Scott Dixon 2.0" aka Alex Palou's IndyCar dominance

Alexander Rossi has spoken about the most "annoying" aspect of Alex Palou's IndyCar dominance in 2025. While the 2016 Indy 500 winner respected the Spaniard's unbelievable run and also likened him to six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, it was a post-race facet of Palou's that he found "tough" to deal with.

Palou is having a career-best IndyCar season. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won eight of 15 races so far, finished on the podium in three more, and had only one DNF, which was a result of David Malukas rear-ending him in Detroit. His highlight of the season was winning the 109th Indy 500, a dream come true for the 28-year-old.

Moreover, his humility seems to be growing with each IndyCar record he ticks off. Alexander Rossi touched upon this on his podcast, Off Track with Hinch and Rossi.

"I think everyone has an immense amount of respect and appreciation for it (Palou's dominance). I would say talking to him is more annoying, because for him, he didn't seem surprised by it (his dominant performances). Not saying that he's cocky about it, but he's just like, 'Oh yeah, you know, we just, we had a good weekend and the car was good and strategy was good and it was just pretty straightforward.' And that's like every week when you talk to him, sort of thing. That's kind of tough to come to terms with," Rossi said. [17:10 onwards]

Alexander Rossi, who drives for ECR, compared Palou to his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, IndyCar legend Scott Dixon.

"He's Scott 2.0 in the sense that he does everything that Scott does and executes it to such a high level, regardless of where he starts on the grid. But at the same time, he's just one of the nicest human beings. You can't root against him," the 2016 Indy 500 winner added.

Palou wrapped up the 2025 IndyCar championship at the Grand Prix of Portland. He had to finish ahead of title rival Pato O'Ward for the points math to no longer favor the latter. With a mechanical issue for O'Ward, Palou's road to his third consecutive title and fourth overall was eased.

With two races to go in the season, the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing driver is chasing AJ Foyt's record of 10 wins in a season.

Alexander Rossi reveals his intriguing conversation with Felix Rosenqvist about Alex Palou's supreme racecraft

Alex Palou celebrates atop his car after winning the 2025 IndyCar title in Portland - Source: Getty

Alexander Rossi revealed a conversation he had with Felix Rosenqvist about looking at Alex Palou's race-related data. Rosenqvist drives for Meyer Shank Racing, which has a technical alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing, effectively making him and Palou teammates.

Rossi relayed Rosenqvist's findings to the listeners of his podcast, saying:

"All of the fundamental technique (of Palou) is very good, as you would expect, but it's not unattainable. He (Rosenqvist) said it is the most infuriating thing, and I believe him."

Alexander Rossi also spoke about Rosenqvist's revelation about his lap time comparisons with Alex Palou at the Mid-Ohio road course, which has a variety of corners and features.

"(Rosenqvist said) 'I'm not faster in a single corner. And it's not that I'm far off. I'm a couple hundredths off, maybe even a tenth.' But he said, 'I'm not beating him in a single corner.' And he's like, 'I've never had in my entire career a teammate that is able to do that to me."

Palou is having a historic season with CGR and has outperformed teammates Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson on most race weekends. Meanwhile, Alexander Rossi is in his first year with a new team, ECR. His best result this season was a P5 in Portland.