As stated before on Pit Debrief, Álex Palou is inevitable, as the three-time IndyCar champion grabbed his first pole position of the season in for the Barber round of the 2025 season. It left the Catalan delighted, as he doesn’t gets pole too often.
Palou satisfied with pole
“Yeah, it was great. It was really close,” Palou reflects on the session. “We didn’t know if it was going to be wet or dry, so we were all I think panicking a little bit. You didn’t want to get caught at the worst moment.
“[The] car has been really good all weekend honestly. Especially at the Fast Six, I got the balance I wanted, the balance we’re looking for.
“Yeah, really happy with the lap, as well. Got a pole that we don’t really get many, many poles. Feels good to start up front.”
Despite not getting too many poles, Palou reckoned it is important to start up front and have track position, considering the strength of the IndyCar field.
“We don’t get many, many poles. We start up front quite a lot, but we don’t get many poles like this guy [Scott McLaughlin].
“Yeah, it’s important. I think every track is important to have track position. It’s getting tough nowadays to keep your position, especially with the difference on tires, the different strategies that you can have on the race.
“It helps to start up front, for sure. I’ll take it every day. But it doesn’t mean we’re going to finish there.”
Changeable conditions did not hinder qualifying
The Barber weekend has seen some changeable conditions so far, but despite focusing on two setups Palou still managed to grab pole for tomorrow’s IndyCar race.
“We were planning on two different strategies and setups for qualifying,” he explained. “We’re not thinking that it’s going to rain tomorrow, but I could be wrong. But the setup for the wet is ready anyway.
“I think it’s going to be tough for the race, even if it’s dry. Got to see how the car behaves on long runs. I think with the rain this morning, we couldn’t really feel how the car was behaving on, like, more than, I don’t know, 10 or 15 lap tires. It will be interesting.“
Barber a Palou favourite
The ondulating track in Birmingham, Alabama, is one of Palou’s favourites. He managed to grab his first IndyCar win here in his first race for Chip Ganassi Racing, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I love the track. It’s so much fun. Every lap you do is so much fun. We were speaking on the van coming here it’s amazing how the car feels and how the track feels. Ton of grip. Lots of ups and downs. High braking zones, high speeds. Has a little bit of everything. Yeah, I like it.”
A new addition to the Barber race this year is the presence of the hybrid system, which was introduced to IndyCar
“Yeah, I mean, it changes. It changes the car balance quite a lot. Obviously it makes it a little bit lazier on the high-speed corners. Low-speed corners as well. I think it’s a little bit easier to make mistakes and to not just (indiscernible) the corners.
“I think it’s adding a little bit more of difficulty, but at the same time it’s a lot of fun. Like, you need to regen and deploy numerous times per lap. Hopefully that plays a role on overtaking during the race.“
