IndyCar returned to the Thermal Club last weekend for the second round of the 2025 Season. With both Arrow McLaren’s locking out the front row in Qualifying, it looked liked the Papaya outfit would dominate the Grand Prix. But would they be able to stop the reigning IndyCar Champion, Alex Palou? The short answer, was no. Here are the key takeaways that you need to know.
A Golden Age of IndyCar in 2025?
1. Alex Palou is a Monster
Starting from third on the grid, it was never going to be out of the question for Alex Palou to fight for the race win. But with the level of control that both Arrow McLaren drivers had over the majority of the race, it appeared that the Spaniard would have to settle for the bottom spot of the podium.
However, after the last round of pitstops, Palou entered another dimension of racing altogether. He hunted down Christian Lundgaard with ease and, after some tantalisingly close wheel to wheel combat, dispatched with the Danish driver. Race leader Pato O’Ward, who had been essentially leading the entire Grand Prix up to that point, was now 11 seconds up the road. In the final phase of the race, closing that gap and getting past the Mexican seemed like a tall order, even for Palou.
Not only did Palou close down that gap, he did so in just six laps. Strategically placing his car and biding his time a little, it wasn’t long before Palou swooped past O’Ward and into the lead. From there, Palou didn’t just build a lead of his own – he darted away like a comic book speedster. By the time the chequered flag was waved, Palou was a whopping ten seconds ahead of O’Ward in second place. Moreover, he was a further 13 ahead of Lundgaard in third. It was the first time since 2020 that a driver had won the opening races of a season back to back. Who did it last time? Palou’s teammate – the infamous Scott Dixon.
With performances like this, it’s going to take something monumental to beat Palou to claiming a fourth IndyCar Championship.
2. Who can beat Palou – and how?
Arrow McLaren were the team best placed to topple Alex Palou this weekend. While that didn’t happen, they aren’t the only ones capable of achieving it. The trouble is, none of the other teams are currently performing at the level they need to be in order to actually do that.
Team Penske were on the backfoot again this weekend after a disastrous qualifying. Scott McLaughlin’s race was almost immediately compromised by Devlin DeFrancesco after the two made contact. Power and Newgarden spent the rest of the race rising as high as they could in the pack. Newgarden made it to thirteenth while Power powered even further up to an impressive sixth. But to take on Palou, they need to be near the sharp end of the grid at the start of the race too, not fighting their way towards it.
Andretti Global are the third team that are capable of besting Palou. Colton Herta finished in fourth with Kyle Kirkwood in eighth. While neither could hold a candle to Palou at Thermal Club, consistent results like this can keep them in the mix. Marcus Ericsson however, spun early in the race, and never really recovered. Like Team Penske and Arrow McLaren, with Nolan Siegel, they need all three of their drivers in play at the front of the field working together if any of them want to stand a chance of beating the Spaniard.
3. Meyer Shank and ECR are Dark Horses in 2025
Elsewhere, there are teams and drivers that could play a crucial role over the course of the season.
Meyer Shank Racing is the first of these. Drivers Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong both had a quietly great race at Thermal Club. The former finished in fifth; the latter in seventh. Rosenqvist also finished in seventh at the season opener in St. Petersburg. This is a team that realistically isn’t assumed to be in with a shot at the Championship. But consistency is key in motorsport. If Rosenqvist can keep this level of performance up, he could find himself in the mix. If that happens, he could take crucial points away from other drivers and inadvertently influence the fight for the title. With nothing to lose and everything to gain for both drivers, they could potentially be dark horses this season.
ECR are anther outfit that match this description. Alexander Rossi has finished in the top ten in both races so far this season. Christian Rasmussen, in his second season of IndyCar, is edging closer to achieving top ten finishes on a regular basis. Both are capable drivers in their own right and it’s worth keeping an eye on them as the season unfolds.
Alex Palou secures win in a tight St. Petersburg opener
4. PREMA’s Baptism of Fire – Literally
Life continues to be tough for IndyCar’s new team. In practice, Robert Schwartzman’s car caught fire, ending his session early. The damage to the car was so severe that the team had to work overnight on a new chassis to get it ready in time for Qualifying. With virtually no time on the track, Schwartzman did well to not only finish the race, but to do so in twenty second place.
Callum Ilott began the race at Thermal Club in that same position. But the Britain would fall down the order and finish in twenty sixth. A silver lining for both drivers is that neither of them have DNFd yet. Another is that both have at least been able to make the best of their bad situations over a race weekend. Both will be hoping that it’ll be third time’s the charm for them next time out at Long Beach.
5. The Woes of Thermal Club
The race at Thermal Club was already on shaky ground prior to this season. Last year’s non-championship round received mixed reviews at best from fans all around the world. Its location and lack of public access (in the same way most, if not all other IndyCar venues have) count as strikes against it. So too does the lack of a single day ticket option for race day.
All of this was not helped on race day by the sudden drop in live race coverage globally. For ten laps, IndyCar Radio was off air. Sky Sports F1 went into a long ad break. Fox switched over to NASCAR to distract everyone from the fact that they weren’t able to watch IndyCar. The cause of the interruption was later revealed to be an electrical issue trackside. This is an issue that is not uncommon to the wider area around Thermal Club. So, you’d be forgiven for wondering why more has not been done to combat this problem before and why steps weren’t taken here to prevent it.
If IndyCar is to return here in 2026, they may want to ensure that what happened this weekend is an isolated event.
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IndyCar returns for the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 13th.
Feature Image: IndyCar Media Centre – Paul Hurley
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