In spite of a difficult day in Toronto regarding a P12 finish, IndyCar championship leader Alex Palou remains positive after the Toronto chaos.
Race breakdown: what happened to his strong start?
The Ganassi driver’s Canadian trip had begun rather favourably, as he had managed to secure a front row start right next to pole sitter Colton Herta. His troubles began on Sunday by choosing the hard tyre instead of the soft like those around him.
Nevertheless, three-time IndyCar champion Palou still had a rather postive race start in Toronto, even managing to lead a good 37 race laps and building a strong advantage. What ultimately cost him his eight seasonal win was the strategy, combined with some untimely cautions.
Eventual race winner Pato O’Ward not only had been on the tyre strategy which meant he could run on hard tyres from lap 3 to the end, but had also managed to take advantage of a very well timed pit stop right before the caution issued for Alexander Rossi’s crash.
Palou’s personal feedback
Defending IndyCar champion Alex Palou took the blame for the strategy call in Toronto, admitting he had been the one to insist for the hards at the start.
“Well, I chose the strategy, so there’s what we did wrong today.I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best option to win. The car was really fast. I wanted to be up front, trying to avoid being there, trapping traffic, but yeah, honestly, it happens.”
The championship leader, who retains a 99 points lead over second placed O’Ward, looked back at his strong beginning of the race, during which he had managed to develop a strong 20 seconds lead over those who pitted under caution, which was whittled down to nothing when Christian Rasmussen and Will Power made contact.
“We knew it was going to be a risky strategy compared to starting on alternates. It was kind of working.We were able to open a big gap after that first yellow, but it was not enough today, so yeah, not our day.”
It was still a positive day overall for Chip Ganassi Racing as Kyffin Simpson secured his first IndyCar podium. Palou expressed his joy for his teammate’s success:
“Happy that Kyffin got his first podium, so that’s going to be good for him, good for the team, and yeah, ready for next week.“
