The near-perfect season of Alex Palou continues, as he won his third Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course after a late 13-lap dash to the finish. Palou takes his 15th career win and fourth in the first five races of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season.
Alex Palou wins the #IndyGP! #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/mIPjJr0pAy
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 10, 2025
A caution finally came out for the second time this season — ending a 408-lap streak of green flag racing that spanned back to the opening laps of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg — after David Malukas stalled off course with 15 laps to go.
WE HAVE A CAUTION! #IndyGP #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/EpWyCQmTFa
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 10, 2025
Despite the first caution, Palou pulled away with ease from the field, building a 5.484-second lead once the Spaniard crossed the checkered flag. His average finish of 1.2 through five races is the best start since AJ Foyt in 1964.
“I owe everything to the team: Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates and everybody that is working behind the scenes to make me look so fast on track,” Palou said. “It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable. Hopefully we get to stay here again in a couple of weeks for the biggest race of the year.”
Palou was unchallenged by Pato O’Ward behind him on the restart. O’Ward worked his way from starting in eighth to take his second runner-up finish of the season, making passes both on track and through excellent pit strategy.
“We need to do something to stop the 10 car,” O’Ward said. “These cars are really on a roll. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it, especially in IndyCar. We just got to keep on working.”
Will Power took his first podium of the season for Team Penske, working his way up from seventh from the start. The four-time winner had over a minute of push-to-pass remaining in the final 13-lap run but was unable to challenge O’Ward.
Power’s teammate Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon completed the top five after working his way up from 16th.
IndyCar mandated a two tire compound mandate for all drivers to race on two sets of primary black and alternate red Firestone tires. The field divided the strategy much differently than the previous one tire set rule.
Graham Rahal started on his sticker set of soft tires and was able to take the lead. He controlled the race for 48 laps, the second most in his career, only behind his first of two race wins at Belle Isle in 2017. However, his strategy came apart when he lost time with his final set of used soft Firestones and finishing the race on the unpreferred primary tires. He finished sixth after what looked like it could be a big day.
Alex Palou makes the pass for the lead! #IndyGP #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/p2w4wOK27m
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 10, 2025
Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood, Rinus VeeKay –– the biggest mover of the race –– and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 10. VeeKay earns his third top 10 in five races with Dale Coyne Racing, and Rosenqvist battled back from a spin involving VeeKay earlier in the race.
Felix Rosenqvist goes around. #IndyGP #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/5W8Z8KHoTI
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 10, 2025
A multi-car incident on the first lap of green-flag racing resulted in wing damage to Colton Herta‘s Andretti Global No. 26 Honda in the final sector of corners. He made quick instincts to pit, but the crew had to scramble to get the wing ready. Conor Daly and Callum Ilott were also involved. There was no caution for the incident. Daly recoverd to 15th while Ilott finished four laps down in 22nd.
Marcus Ericsson spun off the nose of Malukas on lap 25 after having drivetrain issues that knocked him out of the race in 26th.
Before the start of the race, two drivers had issues. Kyffin Simpson had a gearbox problem in his No. 8 CGR Honda before starting the race. He was supposed to line up a career-best 10th for the second week in a row. He was unable to make it to the start and was eventually pulled behind the wall on lap nine.
Josef Newgarden had issues with his hybrid unit and had to pit during pace laps. He wasn’t able to keep his qualifying position of sixth and had to start at the rear of the field. He was able to recover to 12th at the finish.
Palou rolls into the Indy 500 with a 97 point gap ahead of second place Kirkwood looking for his first Indy 500 and oval victory.
Sonsio Grand Prix Results
The next stop on the IndyCar calendar is the Greatest Spectacle of Racing: the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25th at 10 a.m. ET. Coverage will be provided by FOX.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing