Palou aces strategy to pip O’Ward to Thermal win

O’Ward led teammate Christian Lundgaard in an all-McLaren front row ahead of Palou. The Mexican dominated the first leg of the race but tyre strategy proved pivotal.

Palou spent the lion’s share of the race looking at the gearbox of Lungaard’s car until the final pit stop when he swapped to the softer compound red sidewall tyre.

With 15 laps to go in the 65-lapper, Palou finally put a pass on Lundgaard for second place, who was on the hard compound tyre.

Despite a nine-second deficit to the lead, Palou quickly scythed through the gap and with 10 laps to go blew by O’Ward who was also on the harder compound.

Palou stretched his legs from there, gapping O’Ward to the tune of 10 seconds.

It’s the second straight win for Palou off the back of taking the season-opening race on the streets of St Petersburg.

“What an amazing weekend, honestly,” said Palou.

“We had a really fast car since practice. They executed very well. Everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing, the #10 car, executed perfectly.

“We knew it was aggressive to start with the user reds (soft compound tyre). We knew that we were looking towards the end of the race with the #10 car. Yeah, we did it, so back-to-back wins, it’s awesome.”

Alex Palou takes the lead from Pato O’Ward! #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/WlVGf8TEc1

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 23, 2025

O’Ward led 51 of the 65-lap distance but conceded he had the weaker strategy.

“We took a gamble and it didn’t work out for us. We had used our new reds in the start because we didn’t quite know what the deg was going to be like.

“The blacks (hard compound) took a turn in the negative towards the end of the race and that was it. We didn’t stand a fighting chance.”

Lundgaard completed the podium. Andretti Global’s Colton Herta was fourth ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist.

Team Penske’s Will Power was the surprise packet of the race, rising from 21st on the grid to sixth. Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing), Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global), Alexander Rossi (Ed Carpenter Racing), and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) completed the top 10.

The race was green from start to finish, but wasn’t without incident.

Here’s what happened between Devlin Defrancesco and Scott McLaughlin. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/8hUhZ3XDN1

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 23, 2025

Scott McLaughlin was tipped into a spin by Devlin De Francesco even before the race got underway. De Francesco copped a drive-through for the indiscretion.

The Team Penske driver found himself on the back foot from the outset. He recovered to 19th before his hybrid system overheated and he was forced to pit.

In the end, McLaughlin wound up last. He tried to return to the race but retired on Lap 53.

Callum Ilott collided with his Prema teammate Robert Schwartzman on the first lap and lost his front wing. The Brit finished second-to-last.

Perhaps the biggest blunder was the mid-race blackout. The local and international television feed stopped working during the second round of pit stops but returned in time for the battle to begin between Lundgaard and Palou.

Results: The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix