Álex Palou is counting down the days until he can start defending his Indycar title, which kicks off on March 2 in St. Petersburg, Florida. He’s aiming to achieve a milestone that hasn’t been accomplished in almost three decades: winning three consecutive titles, which would be his fourth crown overall. To prepare, he participated in a two-day test at the Sebring circuit, although it’s not a track that hosts any championship races.
Those two days of testing concluded with Palou in seventh position on the combined time table, led by Penske team members Will Power and Josef Newgarden, both of whom are strong contenders to dethrone the Spanish driver. They set their reference times during the morning session on Tuesday, when the track was colder, a condition Palou didn’t experience as he drove in the second group on Tuesday, with a hotter and more challenging layout. His best time was actually marked during the first session on Monday.
Palou completed 183 turns without any apparent issues and was the best performer from the Chip Ganassi Racing team, which has reduced its squad to three cars this year, albeit maintaining a technical collaboration with Meyer Shank. One of his teammates, Marcus Armstrong, secured the fourth-best time, but it was actually Félix Rosenqvist, driving the Meyer Shank #60, who finished just behind him.
Different conditions
The test saw various drivers posting competitive times under different conditions. Marcus Armstrong ended up a position behind the Mexican Pato O’ward (McLaren) and ahead of Colton Herta (Andretti) and Nolan Siegel (McLaren), all of whom preceded Palou in the time table. The difference between Palou’s time and Power’s reference time was merely two tenths of a second, highlighting the tight competition among the 27 cars that took to the track.
Among the favorites, Scott Dixon had a particularly tough time, experiencing a technical issue with his car on the first day and managing only 60 laps over the two days. The next time the cars will be on track is at the start of the Indycar 2025 season in the urban circuit of St. Petersburg, a traditional opening venue. These tests in Sebring were also an opportunity for teams to fine-tune their setup settings for street circuits.