IndyCar News: Alex Palou reveals BLAME for losing Mid-Ohio win

IndyCar

Palou reveals BLAME for losing Mid-Ohio win

Palou narrowly missed out on a Mid-Ohio victory

Sheona Mountford

Wednesday 10 July 2024 04:00

Alex Palou has revealed the reason that cost him an Indy 200 win at the Mid-Ohio course on Sunday.

The Chip Ganassi driver topped the IndyCar standings heading into the event, and looked set to seal his fourth win of the season after achieving pole position.

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However, a slow getaway from his final pitstop on lap 55 allowed Pato O’Ward to overtake for the lead, as the Spanish driver struggled to engage first gear while the car was still being refuelled.

Despite losing the win, Palou managed to finish on the podium in second place, and has maintained his championship lead by 48 points.

Pato O'Ward snatched the lead from Alex Palou

Mid-Ohio loss is ‘my fault’ reveals Alex Palou

“Just tried to engage first gear too early,” Palou said.

“My mechanics were super good on tires and you cannot engage first gear when the fueller is in. So yeah, I just tried, and it got denied.

“It was like, I don’t know, half a second or one second. Yeah, totally my fault. If you try [to shift] when the fueller is in, it doesn’t allow you. Then suddenly they released me and I couldn’t get it because there was a small delay.

“Our in lap was pretty terrible, had traffic, didn’t engage first gear as normally because I knew I had a crazy in lap. Didn’t work out.

“It feels a bit worse when you know that you had the car and everything that you needed to win, but still, it was a good podium day.”

F1 Alex Palou Pato O'Ward