IndyCar driver Alex Palou made the critical pass for 1st place in the pit lane during Sunday’s race to win his first Long Beach Grand Prix and third win of the season.
Palou finished the race 3.9 seconds ahead of second place, showing impressive pace and stamina during the later stages of the race.
The race featured only one caution, but it proved to be the deciding factor in who would come out victorious.
During the caution, both Palou and front-runner Felix Rosenqvist went to the pit lane, where Palou’s faster pit stop allowed him to exit just in front of Rosenqvist.
“The pressure that they had at that moment was pretty high, so incredible the work they did,” Palou said of his pit crew.
Rosenqvist led for the majority of the race and likely would have won had it not been for the full-course caution.
“I knew it was going to be yellow at some point. It’s a bit frustrating, but at the end of it, Alex did a better job under pressure,” Rosenqvist said.
Following the pit stop pass, Palou managed the race masterfully and extended his lead throughout the remainder of the Grand Prix.
Palou noted that without the full course caution, a pass for the lead was very unlikely and would have been very difficult to execute.
“My confidence was high, but my chances were low. I was not going to give up, but I think it would have been very, very tough for us to get it today,” Palou said.
The win at Long Beach makes Palou the points leader in the IndyCar series and puts him in a prime position to win his fifth IndyCar national championship.
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