IndyCar Preview: Grand Prix of Indianapolis
- Dan Jones
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Written by Dan Jones
It's May. Indy cars are at Indianapolis. The festivities in the build-up to the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 can finally commence as cars hit the track on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the prelude to the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing,' on May 25th. Yes, it's that time of year again, and let's commence the 'Month of May' activities with 85 laps of road course racing action, as Indianapolis plays host to Round 5 of 17 of the 2025 IndyCar season.
What happened at Barber?
There was little surprise to anybody in the IndyCar paddock to see Álex Palou in victory lane on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park with his previous record at Alabama and his mighty form to start 2025. It marked his third win in four races but this victory was a statement-and-a-half from the Spaniard as he dominated proceedings from start to finish.
It was a majestic drive from Palou, who took pole and never looked back from there. He would prove to be in a different league to his opposition, even outpacing the field on the harder tire compound, effectively leading from start-to-finish, only dropping out of the lead on his pit cycles.
Christian Lundgaard's impressive start to the year also continued, as he picked up his third podium in four races with Arrow McLaren in second after some fine moves on Scott McLaughlin and Pato O'Ward. Double-defending race winner at Barber, McLaughlin, would have to ultimately settle for third place, with the podium finishers finishing 16 and 23 seconds behind Palou at the flag.
This also marked the third race in a row with no caution deployed, the first time this set of events have happened since 1986. The Harvest Grand Prix double-header at Indianapolis in 2020 marked the previous time that consecutive races went without caution, so there's a chance we could make it a miraculous four-in-a-row yellow-free.
The hybrid was once again a talking point leaving Barber, with overtaking numbers significantly down and the on-track action minimal once again. However, the series saw an improvement in TV figures, averaging 912,000 which was significantly up from concerning figures during the Long Beach weekend.
You can read the full race report here, the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast's race review here and my gradebook here.
Palou hasn't finished lower than second so far in 2025, and he has opened up a dominant 60 point lead in the standings. His lead is so majestic that he could sit out of this race and still retain his championship lead. And we're only four races into the season. But, Will Power won three of the first four in 2012 and did not win the title so not all hope is quite yet lost for a championship battle.
The top ten are as follows:
Palou - 196
Lundgaard - 136
Kirkwood - 127
O'Ward - 108
McLaughlin - 105
Rosenqvist - 105
Dixon - 104
Herta - 99
Power - 93
Rossi - 82
All you need to know about the Indianapolis Road Course
As road courses go, Indianapolis is on the opposite end of the spectrum to the challenge the drivers faced last week at Barber Motorsports Park. Barber is noted for it's flowing nature, with plenty of elevation, whilst 'the Brickyard' has practically no elevation and is a very stop-start circuit in comparison, but that provides more overtaking opportunities.
The main straight is the longest of the IndyCar schedule for road and street circuits, and goes in the opposite direction to what drivers will in two weeks for the Indianapolis 500. Turn 1 is the best overtaking opportunity on the track, where the lanes dramatically narrow on entry, which has caused a few first corner incidents in recent years.
Drivers sweep through the medium-speed corners at Turns 2, 3 and 4 before a flat left-right chicane at Turns 5 and 6. Turn 7 presents another fantastic overtaking opportunity as drivers brake hard for the left-hander. The circuit then goes through a esses section at 8, 9 and 10. Another opportunistic overtaking opportunity is provided at Turn 12 where the lanes once again narrow for a tight right-hander. Drivers will then quickly attempt the clumsy left-hander at Turn 13 before coming back into the main straight to complete the 2.439 mile (3.925 km) lap.
The talking point heading into the weekend will be if there is anybody who can step up and beat Palou, something only Kyle Kirkwood has managed to do four races in 2025. What the concern for the opposition is, is that Palou is the double-defending race winner at this event.
He hasn't won the last two races here, due to the series holding two races at the circuit between 2020 and 2023, but with Palou's current form, as well as his past successes here, it's already seeming like the gauntlet has been laid for the other 26 drivers.
Will Power has had consecutive top five finishes and ran well at Barber, a track he has run at well traditionally. However, Indianapolis is a track that Power runs at even better, taking victories in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 as well as pole position in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 (twice) and 2022. He was also Palou's closest challenger here last season and has a further two podiums to that.
Power's Penske teammate, Josef Newgarden won in 2020, the year when the circuit hosted three races. McLaughlin, on the other hand, has never reached the podium at Indianapolis. But, like Alabama, this has been a team Penske stronghold. They won five-in-a-row between 2014 and 2019 and a further three between 2020 and 2021.
Scott Dixon has had an inconsistent start to 2025, but has found success here in both 2020 and 2023, the latter featuring a miraculous recovery drive after an opening lap spin.
Andretti's Colton Herta won a wet-dry affair in 2022, whilst his former teammate, Alexander Rossi won the summer race that season. The star of Barber (other than Palou) was Rinus VeeKay, and he picked up his only career victory here in 2021.
IndyCar will trial a new tyre requirement update for this weekend's race after concerns in recent races about overtaking and on-track action. Previously, teams had to use one set of both the alternate and the primary tyre in dry race conditions. For this weekend, IndyCar has mandated that two sets of each compound are used, with two laps on each set. There are no requirements on if these have to be a sticker compound.
IndyCar has stated that the 'update strives to ensure an all-out, driving on the limit, thrilling and entertaining product for fans and generate even more strategic challenges for North America's premier open-wheel racing series.'
Drivers will, as usual, have access of 200 seconds of push-to-pass, as well as the hybrid deployment which will be used in racing conditions on the Indianapolis Road Course for the first time.
What to look out for this weekend?
As I've mentioned several times, it rather feels as if this weekend could be the one which unofficially clinches Palou a fourth IndyCar title. It sounds absolutely ludicrous to be saying that before the Indianapolis 500, but with the form he's displayed, not only this season but across the course of his IndyCar career, it feels near-impossible that he wouldn't win it if he holds a gap of 80 or more points at the top of the standings.
Palou's the double-defending race winner of this event, and has started this year in near-perfect fashion. He's won all three of his races in very different manners and it looks difficult for anybody to really challenge him at a venue that is one of his very best.
But, his closest 'challenger,' so far in 2025 has been Christian Lundgaard, and this is Lundgaard's best venue of the entire season. Many attribute this to the European-style characteristics of the circuit which help drivers coming over from Formula 2 and the like. Lundgaard made his IndyCar debut here in 2021, and stunningly qualified fourth, and he has not finished lower than ninth in any of his five visits since. That run includes two podiums, a pole position and two further top four finishes - and that was in RLL machinery.
Arrow McLaren have never won on the Road Course here, but their record is mighty impressive. They had five top five finishes during the two races in 2023, and have had several more since when the re-joined the series in 2020. O'Ward has also taken a pole here in addition to his two podiums.
The dynamic at Arrow McLaren has been a fascinating story early on in 2025, with Lundgaard seeming to have the upper edge on O'Ward during their early phases as teammates. This weekend will be very telling at Lundgaard's strongest venue as well as coming off the back off three consecutive podiums. I certainly wouldn't count out Lundgaard making it four in a row.
This will be a very telling weekend for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing too. They haven't claimed a top ten so far in 2025, which marks six races in a row with that statistic - the longest barren run since 2013. But, this track has really suited them in recent years and is by far and away their strongest of the season.
Graham Rahal finished second in 2021 before coming fifth the following year. Lundgaard came second in the fall race in 2022 before he took pole and finished fourth the next season. In the fall, Rahal led Lundgaard to a one-two in qualifying, and it was only Dixon's magic which stopped Rahal winning a first race in five years that day as Lundgaard finished fourth. No car qualified outside the top eight in both races in 2023. Lundgaard would take the team's only podium last season at this race.
And we saw Devlin DeFrancesco's magic here before too when he took the lead after overtaking four cars around the outside in the opening corner in 2023. This will be a pivotal weekend into understanding where RLL are really at pace-wise and a disappointing result could raise serious alarm bells.
Although not as much in recent years, this race had previously been all about Team Penske. The team have not started 2025 particularly well, and they seem to lack raw pace, especially in qualifying. However, both Power and McLaughlin have been able to salvage some respectable results in recent races and this bodes a massive chance to turn their fortunes around before they head to the oval where they were so dominant last season.
Barber was not a great weekend for Andretti, but that was somewhat to be expected based on previous form. Based on previous form here, the signs aren't encouraging. They took both wins in 2022 but that remains their only victories on the road course. Their best finish in the three IMS Road Course races since has been seventh, with only three results inside the top ten. Herta's good start to the year hasn't yielded many strong results yet, and if a true title challenge is to come, it's going to need to come fairly soon.
A quick mention for Rinus VeeKay too. He finished an excellent fourth in Barber for the ultimate underdogs in Dale Coyne Racing and heads to another track where he has good history at. He beat the odds once again in 2021 to take an epic first career victory, but took his first career pole and podium in 2020 at Indianapolis too. VeeKay could well become hot property in the driver market and this is the chance for him to put himself in the shop window even more.
A.J. Foyt Racing have endured a difficult start to 2025, especially after Santino Ferrucci claimed the team could fight for a championship. They're yet to get a top ten this season, and haven't had a top ten on the Road Course since the turn of the decade. They will be looking to turn their season around soon, although this may not be the place where they will do it, at least based on history.
Timings:
To give more time to convert Indianapolis into it's oval format once practice for the '500' starts on Tuesday, this marks the only two-day weekend event of the year, with qualifying taking place on Friday and the race on Saturday.
Practice 1: 9:30 ET Friday
Practice 2: 13:10 ET Friday
Qualifying: 16:35 ET Friday
Warm-Up: 11:32 ET Saturday
Race: 16:52 ET Saturday
DIVEBOMB will bring you all the news and updates throughout the weekend as well as post-race analysis. It's one final race before we turn our eyes to the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing,' but for now, can anybody stop Álex Palou or can the Spaniard put one hand on the Astor Challenge Cup for a fourth time?
