Alonso backs Palou as “F1 level” — with one big caveat: the car
Fernando Alonso doesn’t hand out compliments easily, but when it comes to Alex Palou, the Aston Martin veteran didn’t hesitate. Asked about the IndyCar star amid a fresh round of F1 whispers, Alonso called his compatriot “Formula 1 level” — the kind of endorsement that cuts through the noise on both sides of the Atlantic.
That noise, of course, was a burst of speculation this week linking Palou to a Red Bull seat. Palou, his camp and Red Bull’s Helmut Marko all swatted it away in short order. Still, when you’ve dominated IndyCar the way Palou has — four titles in the past five seasons and an Indianapolis 500 win in May — the F1 question never really goes away. He’s 28, in his prime, relentlessly efficient. People are going to ask.
Alonso’s view is that Palou would belong, but the picture isn’t that simple. Dropping an elite driver into Formula 1 is only half the story; the other half is what you give him to drive.
“It’s a challenge, for sure,” Alonso said when asked how a driver as established as Palou would handle being a rookie again in F1. “There are well-established drivers and teams here, and circuits and this kind of thing, but he has the talent, and he has the level to adapt very quickly.”
Then came the reality check. “Ultimately, it will depend on which car you have,” Alonso added. If you land at the back of the grid, adaptation can look like struggle — overdriving to compensate, small mistakes magnified by desperation. Put the same driver in a quick car, and everything looks easier, more natural. It’s a point only someone who’s ridden the full rollercoaster of F1 machinery could make with such clarity. Alonso has.
Palou himself isn’t pining for a Grand Prix lifeline. He’s stated repeatedly he doesn’t feel he’s missing out by not racing in F1, which is exactly what you’d expect from someone who’s built a winning machine of his own in IndyCar. In a series that punishes weakness and rewards consistency, he’s become the benchmark. That kind of rhythm is powerful — and hard to abandon unless the right door opens.
And that’s the key tension. It’s not about whether Palou could do F1. It’s about whether he’d be given the platform to show it. The sport is littered with drivers judged on results that tell half the story. Alonso, perhaps more than anyone, understands the gap between ability and opportunity.
He also knows the business side. Through his driver management outfit — with names like Gabriel Bortoleto and IndyCar heavyweight Will Power on the books — Alonso has watched plenty of careers pivot on timing and the right phone call. Asked what he’d advise Palou if a concrete F1 offer finally landed, he played it coy: “I don’t know,” he said, before flashing a grin and adding, “as I said already with Max and Mercedes, if they want advice, my email is always open.”
It was a neat reminder that while the F1 transfer market never really sleeps, the serious decisions come down to leverage and leverage comes from winning. Palou has that in abundance. If a top-tier seat ever truly materialises, he won’t need to talk anyone into his talent. He’ll just need a car good enough to make it obvious.
Until then, expect the speculation to keep bubbling whenever he seals another win stateside or an F1 team hits turbulence. The paddock is a small place. Everyone knows what everyone else is thinking. Alonso’s made his view clear: Palou’s the real deal. The rest is circumstance, and in Formula 1, circumstance is everything.
