\u00a0It\u2019s only one race, but it was one hell of a statement by Alex Palou and Co. in Sunday\u2019s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
Palou successfully defended last year\u2019s victory on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit, leading 59 of 100 laps and coasting to a race record 12.4948s margin of victory. It was the type of drive that reminded fans and rivals alike why he is the reigning and four-time IndyCar Series champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re back,\u201d Palou said.<\/p>\n
Barry Wanser, longtime team manager of Chip Ganassi Racing and Palou\u2019s race strategist on the #10 Honda, summarized the performance about as succinctly as one could.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was asked to describe how Alex was (Sunday),\u201d Wanser said, \u201cand it was certainly perfection, but the whole team, the pit stops were perfection, and everyone on the team did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a guy that won eight races last year, even the six-month long offseason didn\u2019t seem to halt Palou\u2019s momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncredible,\u201d said Palou, who now has 20 wins in 99 career starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t know what to say from this team anymore. It’s been a long offseason. I was sad last year that the season ended. I just wanted to continue going, because I knew it was so magical and so tough to get such a great car, such a great team behind me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, this team has done it again here for this weekend. It’s very early on, but still, I think that shows all the preparation they did, and I had by far the best car (Sunday).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the post-race press conference, Motorsport.com asked Palou if he feels beatable.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, yeah,\u201d Palou said.<\/p>\n
When pressed further on what he believes his weakness is that would make him beatable, the 28-year-old Spaniard wasn\u2019t ready to reveal the secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not going to say it here out loud,\u201d Palou said.<\/p>\n
To which Wanser lightheartedly teased, \u201cDo you want me to? No, I\u2019m just kidding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palou wasn\u2019t afraid to elaborate a bit more, noting his failure to secure pole in the race and having to start fourth. There was also the additional thought of being able to brake later, get to power sooner, and improve the setup of the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can always keep on improving, I feel like, in all sports, which is the beauty of it,\u201d Palou said. \u201cSo, yeah, not going to tell you where everybody can beat me, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Palou\u2019s rivals haven\u2019t figured it out yet, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, every time I’m on the podium, second or third, he’s first,\u201d said Arrow McLaren\u2019s Christian Lundgaard, who finished third. \u201cIt’s pretty annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n
So how close does Palou feel his competitors are to him right now?<\/p>\n
\u201cCloser than it seems,\u201d Palou said. \u201cIt looks very good on TV. It looks very good on paper. It’s actually super close.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don’t make that decision on the tires or that decision on fuel or the pit stop doesn’t go well, you suddenly are not P1. You don’t have clean air. You start pushing more, and suddenly you are P4. You can go from a race that you win by 12 or 10 seconds to finishing P4, and it only takes one action not to work for it to go bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it’s not easy to win races. Although it might seem like it, it takes a lot of stuff to go well for it to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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