Palou surges by Ericsson for maiden win

Alex Palou has accomplished nearly everything the IndyCar Series has to offer, as the three-time champion took his maiden victory at the Indianapolis 500.

Palou surged past 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson in the closing stages and fended off the Swedish driver with the help of two cars battling to stay on the lead lap to claim the 109th running of the Indy 500.

It was Palou’s fifth win already of the 2025 IndyCar season, a dominant stretch that leaves him as the obvious championship favourite – and has now captured his maiden win on an oval in IndyCar’s crowning race.

“I cannot believe it,” Palou said. “What an amazing day. What an amazing race by the #10 crew, everybody at CGR, HRC. I cannot believe it. It’s amazing to be here. It’s amazing to win.”

Four years prior, an inexperienced Palou had been in the lead when the veteran Helio Castroneves passed him and used the tow of leading cars at the tail end of the lead lap to maintain the lead for a record-tying fourth Indy 500 triumph.

Palou used the lessons learned that day to his advantage, following Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco and Louis Foster and using their tow to help him conserve fuel and maintain the front spot.

“At the end, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to pass Marcus or not,” Palou admitted. “But I made it happen. First oval win. What a better place.”

An emotional Palou also enjoyed a similar victory celebration to Castroneves, running down the track before celebrating with his crew. Meanwhile Ericsson looked on, despondent after coming home 0.6822s shy of his second Indy 500 triumph in a race that ended under caution.

David Malukas finished third, capping off a strong day for AJ Foyt Racing. Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist completed the top five, with Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Christian Rasmussen, Christian Lundgaard and Conor Daly wrapping up the top 10.

The Indy 500 started in chaotic fashion, with two accidents before the field could complete a full lap of green flag racing. After a brief rain delay to start the race, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin lost control of his #3 Chevrolet while trying to warm his tyres and crashed into the inside wall at the start of the final planned pace lap.

The race started under caution as a result of McLaughlin’s error. The remaining cars created the traditional rows of three and finally took the green flag at the end of lap four, but the race was again placed under the caution flag after Marco Andretti crashed at Turn 1, his 20th Indy 500 appearance undone by a run-in with Jack Harvey.

That set the tone for the day, with crashes and mechanical gremlins shaking up the running order and eliminating many hopeful contenders.

Alexander Rossi climbed into the top five only to suffer a gearbox issue and have his car catch fire when he made an unscheduled pitstop. Rinus VeeKay lost control of his machine and crashed into pitwall when coming in for a green-flag stop, while a few laps later, polesitter Robert Shwartzman ran into his pitcrew when sliding into his box for a stop.

Kyle Larson’s attempt at ‘The Double’ was threatened by the rain and many cautions, but any worries over timing were undone when he crashed with Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb on lap 91.

Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

Two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden’s shot at history also ended early, undone by a fuel pump issue after just 135 laps.

While another high profile former winner in Scott Dixon suffered a fire before the start and ended up losing three laps when his crew elected to replace his brakes.

In the end, just 23 of the 33 cars made it to the last lap, with Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel crashing on the final lap to bring the race to an end under caution.

With the Month of May complete in Indianapolis, IndyCar will venture north to Michigan for a 1 June race on the streets of Detroit.

Indy 500 results