So much went against Alex Palou in the Laguna Seca IndyCar race, but such was his almighty, earth-shattering pace that he won despite his strategy appearing to be the wrong one.
At times Palou was almost two seconds quicker per lap than his rivals and a third win of the year certainly looks ominous as he appears to be a better challenger to Will Power (the former points leader and apparent closest rival close to Palou again this year) than it was. in 2022, the last time the two men fought.
But there is much more to take from a race that saw a star team struggle, Romain Grosjean’s historic result, a driver with an impressive broken wrist and a losing victory that was actually a great achievement.
The race selected the winners and losers of a wild race at Laguna Seca.
Winners
Alex Palou
Palou’s pace was so good that even what looked like a strategy that would condemn him to mediocrity was saved from oblivion.
He opened up a gap of more than 20 seconds with a group of cars that chose to stop a second time on lap 37 of 95 – led by Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi – stopped, rejoined in third, but then overtook the leading duo in another. a few laps because they were saving fuel and Palou’s subsequent stop meant he didn’t have to.
Even three late cautions in the final 20 laps couldn’t stop him from winning and taking a decent lead.
This is his third victory of the year, and his results at Laguna Seca in IndyCar are as follows: second, first, third and first.
Frankly, he and his Ganassi team were just a cut above their rivals, both strategically and in the way they used that impressive pace to maximize clean air and a tire deficit, having used two sets in the rapid qualifying group of six.
A third title in four years is looking increasingly likely, unless its short oval shape isn’t up to snuff or the hybrid mixes things up when it’s introduced next week.
Andretti
It might have looked like a second won and a first lost for Colton Herta, but the entire Andretti team got the kind of result they arguably really needed.
His teammate Kyle Kirkwood was the better qualifier of the two and passed Palou not once but twice, with a pass on the outside of Turn 1 at the start and then again in the same corner after the first pit stops.
But Herta took the lead in the crucial next pit stop window and was ultimately only beaten by Palou on a different strategy. While Herta opted for a different strategy than Palou, you felt like any strategy would have allowed Palou to win the race given his pace.
But after three races with crashes, Herta didn’t do anything stupid and scored good points.
Kirkwood continues to answer those who wonder if he can combine consistency with prodigious pace. He had the best and worst results of the series so far this year (11th on the Indy road course) and took another top five finish – only two in front were on the same strategy – his third in a row.
Herta and Kirkwood are now fourth and fifth respectively in the standings.
Marcus Ericsson had a tough weekend as he lacked pace in qualifying – not for the first time this year – but turned his 18th place finish into a fourth top 10 of the year. It wasn’t his cleanest race with two exits, but many riders failed to avoid the chaos deep in the peloton, and he did just that.
David Malukas
A 16th place finish might not normally be something to celebrate, but just getting to the end was a victory for Malukas. And what’s more, he would have finished much higher without a puncture.
He qualified a brilliant 12th for his first race since fracturing his wrist, was dropped by McLaren, then was handed a lifeline to Shank by taking Tom Blomqvist’s seat for the rest of the year.
Despite struggling with his wrist, he completed all 95 laps and would likely have been in the top 10 and ahead of teammate Felix Rosenqvist, who started third. This was partly due to the “Palou strategy”, although Malukas had the pace to make it work.
More races like this will raise more questions about McLaren driver choices and push Malukas even higher in people’s estimations.
Rosenqvist struggled to match those of his strategy and fell behind some of the drivers of the other main strategy in the process. A brake lockup also contributed to his 11th place finish.
Romain Grosjean
Despite being angry at the standard of his rivals’ driving in qualifying – he said he had a car fast enough for pole but finished eighth – Grosjean drove a reasonable and measured race.
He was boosted in part by the “Palou strategy”, but the epic pace after his last stop really helped him consolidate his position in the lead.
He finished fourth, the best race finish in Juncos Hollinger’s IndyCar history. After such a difficult year for Grosjean and the team, it was a welcome tonic that goes even better than what Callum Ilott managed on this track last year.
Santino Ferrucci
Ferrucci’s run at Laguna Seca was a good reflection of his 2024; he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct during the pre-race warm-up for driving towards Romain Grosjean, then turned a 17th-place start into a ninth-place finish that put him a solid 12th in the points standings.
Whatever your opinion of Ferrucci, he has five top-10 finishes in eight races this year on a team many people consider inferior. Foyt is obviously doing something right!
Honda
A fifth straight victory at Laguna solidifies Honda’s position as the manufacturers’ leader after Chevrolet looked like it could steal the show this year.
A one-two finish, five cars in the top 10 and a lockout of the first two rows after qualifying were just some of the highlights, and although early season unreliability combined with the introduction of hybrid in the next race could shake things up. , Honda had a good run apart from the victory at the Indianapolis 500.
Losers
Thought
He qualified seventh, 14th and 15th and finished seventh, 19th and 21st. For Penske, any day like that is a loss.
Will Power was the shining light. He was his worst qualifier in 15th and lost places in a crowded start, but then took advantage of an early undercut to make up his places before sticking his elbows out late – including being hit by teammate Scott McLaughlin via a late dive at Turn. 6, which effectively ended McLaughlin’s run in the top 10 all day.
Josef Newgarden had a crazy day where a pit exit infraction at his first stop earned him a drivethrough penalty, but he then used Palou’s strategy and was incredibly lucky in stopping when a caution came. out at his final stop – meaning that instead of pitting at the back of the top 10 after leaving the lead, he only dropped to second place. But then he undid all that and spun at Turn 6 late, finishing 19th.
That leaves McLaughlin eighth in points and Newgarden ninth. Power remains in the race at the front, but his lead is now 23 points behind Palou.
Agustin Canapino
Canapino achieved a career-best 13th in qualifying at a track where he was running confidently in the top 10 last year, so usurping his best series result, a 12th place, seemed possible.
In the race he moved up the order after falling back early on, but received a drivethrough for pushing Kyffin Simpson into a spin which ended his and Graham Rahal’s race – Rahal was collected in the The accident that followed – and Canapino finished 18th.
Given that Grosjean, his teammate at Juncos, finished fourth, a better result should have been possible – and would have put Canapino further away from an intense fight in the Leaders’ Circle.
Christian Lundgaard
Lundgaard started sixth and finished 15th and honestly it was a pretty good result considering how his race went.
The hot spots were going off at the Rainey curve, battling McLaughlin early and collecting a brake marker board stuck to his front fender, and getting a drivethrough for avoidable contact late.
He also went wide at the Corkscrew and took off completely, which was certainly very impressive to watch but not great for the car run by Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
Having looked like a comfortable pick in the top 10 of the championship this year, this result was his fourth of the year outside the top 10.
With five of the final nine races of the season taking place on ovals where the team has struggled, it could be a tough end to the year. These road races are crucial for the entire team.
Dale Coyne
With an engine problem for Jack Harvey and a fall for Luca Ghiotto, Coyne suffered a double retirement at Laguna Seca.
There are currently no drivers for the Mid-Ohio race because Ghiotto is unavailable, and whoever he fields will likely be someone with no experience in the hybrid unit that debuts next time.
It’s been a tough year for the David vs. Goliath team and it’s hard to see how much they can improve. At this rate, he will be very lucky to have either car in the Leaders’ Circle without being unlucky.
Rinus VeeKay
VeeKay, who has never finished lower than 14th in the championship during his career, is 17th with just two top 10s this year.
His team, Ed Carpenter, struggled to find balance in the build-up to qualifying, where VeeKay was 20th, and he ultimately did not finish due to a mechanical issue.
