Spaniard Alex Palou wins the Indianapolis 500

City of Detroit, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Indianapolis 500, also known as “The greatest spectacle in motorsport”, crowned a new champion: Alex Palou. Palou became the first Spanish driver to win the Indianapolis 500, a historic milestone he celebrated with his family and surrounded by Spanish flags waving at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Already a two-time IndyCar champion, Palou entered the 2025 edition on the back of a dominant season, having won five of the first six races. When mechanical issues ended Josef Newgarden's hopes of a third consecutive win, Palou took the lead by passing former teammate Marcus Ericsson with just 16 laps remaining. A crash in the closing laps then iced the race and secured his victory under caution.

His celebration included the traditional milk-drinking ceremony in the Winner's Circle, sharing the bottle with his wife and young daughter.

A Career Full of Drama

This year's Indianapolis 500 drew its largest audience in about 17 years, with 40% up from last year, according to data reported by the Associated Press.

And what a great race to watch! On the formation lap, Scott McLaughlin crashed, forcing him to retire before the race even began.

In the pits, Alexander Rossi's car caught fire due to a gearbox failure, also forcing him to retire.

Rookie Robert Shwartzman made history by becoming the first rookie to win the pole position since 1983. However, during the race, his car spun while entering the pits and he ended up colliding with several crew members, causing his early retirement.

Still, he was named Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year after a standout performance in both qualifying and the race.

Victory was once again out of reach for Pato O'Ward, the Mexican Arrow McLaren driver and IndyCar superstar who is still waiting for his big moment. Although he was a crowd favorite for this year's race, he finished fourth, maintaining an impressive record of five top-six finishes in just six Indy 500 starts.

Controversies

Post-race inspections revealed unapproved modifications to the Andretti Global and Prema Racing cars. Marcus Ericsson, who had finished second, and his teammate Kyle Kirkwood were disqualified and demoted to the back of the standings. Callum Ilott was also penalized, dropping from 12th to last.

The final standings have been reshuffled. Completing the podium with Alex Palou are David Malukas and Pato O'Ward, who moved up to second and third place, respectively.

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Fountain: Associated Press