He is making his way and he is not even worried about other young people succeeding in the F-1. Okay, yes, it’s true, he would also love to drive in the ‘big circus’ but, at 27 years, 5 months and 14 days, Alex Palou Montalbowhose mother has had a lot to do with all this, has just become, which is not bad at all, right?, the sSecond youngest three-time champion in IndyCar historythe great competition of American single-seatersthe country of sport, the country of show, the country where the stars shine the brightest.
Palou’s world has always been a small, familiar, complicit world. Àlex has always moved accompanied by Ramonhis father, who has done everything like all karting fathers for his son; Sandraher mother, who never thought she would end up at the foot of the highest podium in the USA; Juliahis 15-year-old sister, who tells everyone that Àlex is her brother, yes, yes, her brother, and Esther, his girlfriend, whom he met when Àlex was playing his first steps in the team of one of the greats, the missing one Adrian Camposis its hard core.
The ‘other’ Alonso
Campos already said it: “The first day I saw the very young Àlex riding in one of my single-seaters, I thought, wow, he’s exactly like ‘Nano’, exactly like him!” ‘Nano’ It is, of course, Fernando Alonsowho was also baptized by Campos. “I really had the same feelings as when I saw Fernando running, the same ones. And, what’s more, he’s such a good guy, such a good person, so nice.”
If there is one thing Palou has, apart from prodigious hands that are not good for going to F-1 where many millions and a handful of godfathers are needed, it is people skills, sympathy. That is why Campos loved him. That is why, when he made the jump to the Japanese formulas, as he did Pedro Martinez de la Rosafell in love with Kazumichi Gohanother Japanese millionaire, who after enjoying himself in the Japanese ‘Superformula’, helped him make the jump to Indycar. And that’s why he fell in love, right away, with Chip Ganassiowner of one of the best Indy teams.
“Àlex is a charming lad, although he is very, very annoying because he wants to know everything, to know all the tricks of this specialty, everything, and, of course, since he is so friendly, we tell him everything. And that’s how the boy turned out: champion.”
And, yes, he also excited his first teammate in that team.Scott Dixonsix-time Indy champion. One day Dixon was asked what he could say about Palou. “I can say that he is a charming kid, although he is very, very annoying because he wants to know everything, to know all the tricks of this specialty, everything, and, of course, since he is so nice, we tell him everything. And that is how the kid turned out: champion.”
It is clear that Indy has little, if any, to do with F-1, whose single-seaters are the most sophisticated form of motorsport. There is a reason why each car costs more than 200 million euros and an Indy can be bought for 10 million euros, as they are extremely simple, very, very basic. But to win in Indy you have to be very, very good, not just anyone wins. And Palou has shown this since he entered that competition in 2020.
The boss loves him
And, of course, as soon as he was signed by a winning team, Palou became the best, whether it was an oval circuit, a city circuit or even at the airports where racing is very common. Perhaps for this reason, there are many who now remember the phrase uttered by Chip Ganassiat the foot of the first podium, the first victory, the three-time Catalan champion: “Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at a young man who is going to set many records in this business.”
Alex Palou celebrates the victory with his team / Mark Humphrey / AP
Palou, born in Sant Antoni de Vilamajor (Barcelona), has a gorilla painted on his helmet (¡Gorilla Atack!is their motto), their group of friends, more than fans, is called ‘the kiwis’he chats with them every week via Twitch and even competes with the simulator. Palou likes yellow, hairless kiwis, “they are sweeter than green ones.” But what Alex really likes is fried chicken. It is, without a doubt, ‘the king of fried chicken’. Every victory is celebrated by the entire team with a dinner filled with drumsticks and wings. The motto is none other than “winner, winner, fried chicken dinner”.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at a young man who is going to set many records in this business.”
Palou admitted, in response to questions from the SoyMotor website in Nashville, where he was crowned three-time IndyCar champion, that he likes racing, competing, and winning more and more. “Winning gives you a unique feeling of happiness. Winning pushes you to keep training, to work hard and prepare to compete again the following year. I just won my third ring and I already want my fourth. I’m really hungry.”
Palou lived in Girona, but when Ganassi, in his second year with the team, offered him a long-term contract and, above all, showed him the tremendous confidence it had in him, he decided to move to the United States, where Esther, who knows as much or more about racing than the three-time champion, also went. Palou once had a cafe in Girona but, when he went to live in the USA, he sold it. No, no, it must be denied that they served fried chicken.
