Alex Palou extended his extraordinary start to the 2025 IndyCar season with a commanding victory in the Sonsio Grand Prix, marking his fourth win in the opening five races.
The Spaniard continued to rewrite the record books by becoming the first driver since Sébastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the first five rounds, and the first to claim three consecutive victories in the IMS road course event.
Driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou crossed the finish line 5.4840 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward, despite a late caution bunching the field and briefly injecting uncertainty into the outcome.
Once racing resumed on Lap 72, Palou immediately pulled clear and was never challenged.
“I cannot describe the amazing season we’ve had so far,” said Palou after the Sonsio Grand Prix. “I owe everything to the team, Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, everybody who is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable.”
Strategy, patience, and execution once again prove key
Palou’s victory was a clinic in calculated aggression. Although he started on pole, Graham Rahal seized the lead early on Lap 2 and controlled the race through the opening two stints. But as the race wore on, Palou’s strategic tire management and superior race pace proved decisive.
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New IndyCar rules required teams to run two sets each of Firestone’s alternate and primary compounds. Rahal opted to start on new tyres while Palou began the race with scuffed rubber. That allowed the Ganassi driver to switch to fresh primaries for his final stint — a move that paid dividends.
After trailing Rahal closely for much of the race, Palou palou-wins-sonsio-grand-prix-2025-indycar. His lead stretched to over four seconds before a full-course yellow flag — the first since Lap 1 of the St. Petersburg season opener — brought the field back together.
But Palou remained unflustered, controlling the restart and rebuilding his advantage within a few laps.
Behind him, O’Ward palou-wins-sonsio-grand-prix-2025-indycar, while Team Penske’s Will Power completed the podium with a season-best third-place finish. Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon rounded out the top five.
Rahal’s tire strategy ultimately backfired, and a delay in the pits behind Kyle Kirkwood dropped him to sixth. The rest of the top 10 featured Marcus Armstrong, Kirkwood, Rinus VeeKay, and Felix Rosenqvist.
With his latest win, Palou has built a commanding 97-point lead in the championship standings, a margin nearly equivalent to two full race wins. He now turns his focus to the biggest prize of all: the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.
“Hopefully we get to stay here [Victory Podium] again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year,” Palou said.
Sonsio Grand Prix 2025 – Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 85 | Leader |
| 2 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | 85 | +5.4840 |
| 3 | Will Power | Team Penske | 85 | +8.4529 |
| 4 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 85 | +10.5391 |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 85 | +11.2645 |
| 6 | Graham Rahal | RLL Racing | 85 | +19.0760 |
| 7 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing | 85 | +19.9644 |
| 8 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | 85 | +21.9958 |
| 9 | Rinus VeeKay | Dale Coyne Racing | 85 | +22.6144 |
| 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | 85 | +23.2313 |
| 11 | Louis Foster | RLL Racing | 85 | +26.1276 |
| 12 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 85 | +26.4758 |
| 13 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | 85 | +26.7236 |
| 14 | Alexander Rossi | Ed Carpenter Racing | 85 | +27.7751 |
| 15 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 85 | +30.8434 |
| 16 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | 85 | +31.0414 |
| 17 | Devlin DeFrancesco | RLL Racing | 85 | +32.2808 |
| 18 | Robert Shwartzman | Prema Racing | 85 | +33.1043 |
| 19 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter Racing | 85 | +33.4520 |
| 20 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 85 | +34.3925 |
| 21 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 85 | +34.7544 |
| 22 | Callum Ilott | Prema Racing | 79 | +6 Laps |
| 23 | David Malukas | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 68 | +17 Laps |
| 24 | Jacob Abel | Dale Coyne Racing | 67 | +18 Laps |
| 25 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global | 64 | +21 Laps |
| 26 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | 6 | +79 Laps |
| 27 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 0 | DNF |
