F1 champion baffled IndyCar star Alex Palou not on F1 radar

Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is baffled that teams in the sport are not making a move for IndyCar star Alex Palou.

Palou had another stunning campaign in the American open-wheel racing series in 2025, dominating on his way to a fourth championship and taking the greatest honor of them all with a win in the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Now, Villeneuve has called for a team such as Alpine to take a gamble on an IndyCar ace like Palou, rather than looking towards F2 for their next star.

Villeneuve's comments come as Alpine are set to decide on who partners Pierre Gasly at the Enstone-based outfit for 2026 and beyond, with under-pressure Franco Colapinto and F2 driver Paul Aron said to be the options.

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Villeneuve: I don't understand why Palou not in F1

“Flavio Briatore has always been very brutal! That's how it should be," Villeneuve explained to OLBG. "And he's made a lot of driver calls in the past, some that were amazing and some that were completely messed up. But at least he tried.

“So yes, we don't see that sparkle from any young drivers at the moment. It's very difficult to know what's coming up, and for some reason, F1 is not looking at what's happening in the States, like in IndyCar, and which drivers could or could not maybe be a potential F1 driver.

“I think someone like Alex Palou, I still don't understand why he is not in F1? It doesn't make sense. Why would you prefer an F2 driver?”

Palou was most recently linked to F1 back in August, with the Spanish star said to have been on Red Bull's radar. However, Palou, his management, and his team boss, Chip Ganassi, quickly came out to dispel these rumors.

"There’s been nothing, nothing at all," Palou told The Associated Press.

"We have heard nothing from anyone. The only thing I’ve heard was it was a manager for some other driver in IndyCar who would like to have my seat who said it to start something."

Elsewhere, Ganassi said: "I talked to Palou. Palou said he’s never talked to anybody, doesn’t know anything about it.

"I talked to his management. They know nothing about it. I know nothing about it. I think it’s a clickbait story."

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