Alex Palou secured his maiden Indy 500 victory, becoming the first Spanish driver to triumph in the iconic American motorsport race.
It was with just 14 laps remaining that Alex Palou overtook Marcus Ericsson to take control of the race.
The Spanish driver had spent the entire event inside the top 10, but it wasn’t until the closing stages that he led for the first time all day.
The race ended under caution following an incident involving Nolan Siegel on the final lap. Palou became the first Spanish driver ever to win the Indy 500.
The 109th edition of the Indy 500 began nearly 45 minutes late due to pre-race showers. Rain also appeared twice during the race, but never heavily enough for race control to bring out the red flag.
Scott McLaughlin didn’t even get to see the green flag, as he spun during the final formation lap and crashed into the wall, forcing him to retire.
Though the race began under yellow, it properly got underway on lap five, with Robert Shwartzman in the lead.
Marco Andretti didn’t make it much farther than McLaughlin, crashing into the Turn 1 wall right after the start.
Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) led much of the early running, as two distinct strategies emerged. Some drivers opted to pit during the early cautions, potentially allowing them to finish with fewer stops.
In addition to the strategic divergence that unfolded as the race progressed, the 109th edition turned into an elimination battle.
Sato was the first of the frontrunners to run into major trouble, overshooting his pit box under yellow on lap 88 and losing several seconds. He ultimately finished eleventh.
In the same sequence, Alexander Rossi (ECR) retired after a fire broke out on his Dallara-Chevrolet, while Robert Shwartzman also withdrew after hitting crew members on pit entry.
Following a restart on lap 110 amid further incidents, the race split into two groups.
The lead group included Palou, Conor Daly (Juncos Hollinger Racing), and David Malukas (A.J. Foyt Racing), who stuck with the main strategy, while Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing), Marcus Ericsson, and Christian Rasmussen (ECR) led the alternate strategy.
With the leaders needing to save significant amounts of fuel, their lap times dropped by roughly two seconds.
This allowed Hunter-Reay to pit and rejoin in the lead. The 2014 winner became a top contender at that point, while Conor Daly’s race unraveled with less than 40 laps to go due to heavy degradation of his right rear tire, causing him to lose several positions.
During his final stop with 31 laps to go, Ryan Hunter-Reay was also struck by misfortune, stalling as he attempted to exit the pits.
This allowed Malukas to take the lead ahead of Palou, while Ericsson stayed out. The Swede used those extra laps to great effect, managing to pit and rejoin ahead of the other leaders.
The Andretti driver appeared headed for a second Indy 500 triumph before Palou made the decisive pass.
Starting from 32nd, Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) seemed poised to contend for a third consecutive win, but was forced to retire due to a mechanical failure with 65 laps remaining.
Kyle Larson (Arrow McLaren), attempting the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 “Double Duty” once more, nearly had to relinquish his seat before the race. Fortunately, the start was delayed just enough for him to remain in Indianapolis.
However, a crash on lap 109 ended his race early and allowed him to head to Charlotte, North Carolina.
In the championship standings, Alex Palou now holds a 118-point lead over his closest rival heading into the next round, scheduled for next Sunday in Detroit.
IndyCar 2025 – Indianapolis 500 The Top 20
| Pos | Name | Status | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. Palou | ACTIVE | 0.0000 |
| 2 | M. Ericsson | ACTIVE | 0.6822 |
| 3 | D. Malukas | ACTIVE | 1.1426 |
| 4 | P. O’Ward | ACTIVE | 2.1327 |
| 5 | F. Rosenqvist | ACTIVE | 2.9464 |
| 6 | K. Kirkwood | ACTIVE | 3.9822 |
| 7 | S. Ferrucci | ACTIVE | 4.9902 |
| 8 | C. Rasmussen | ACTIVE | 6.0274 |
| 9 | C. Lundgaard | ACTIVE | 9.2592 |
| 10 | C. Daly | ACTIVE | 13.3125 |
| 11 | T. Sato | ACTIVE | 16.9157 |
| 12 | C. Ilott | ACTIVE | 21.3918 |
| 13 | H. Castroneves | ACTIVE | 59.6118 |
| 14 | D. DeFrancesco | ACTIVE | 1:02.1039 |
| 15 | L. Foster | ACTIVE | 1:03.0004 |
| 16 | N. Siegel | CONT. | 1 LAP |
| 17 | C. Herta | ACTIVE | 52.3190 |
| 18 | E. Carpenter | ACTIVE | 55.9911 |
| 19 | W. Power | ACTIVE | 57.2602 |
| 20 | G. Rahal | ACTIVE | 1:26.4105 |
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