Scott McLaughlin on Alex Palou's supreme form: “We'll be strong at places he won't”

Scott McLaughlin entered the IndyCar season as a top contender for the championship, coming off back-to-back top-three finishes in both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Now, four races into the 2025 season, he’s not about to let that tag be taken away.

The driver of the #3 Team Penske car began the year with the pole position at St. Pete last February, but had to wait until last Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park to earn his first podium, finishing a distant third behind winner Alex Palou and runner-up Christian Lundgaard.

That left McLaughlin in fifth place in the standings with 105 points, 91 behind Palou, who is far, far ahead of his rivals with three wins and a runner-up finish. To put this in context, after the first four races of 2023 McLaughlin was fourth with 119 points, 11 behind then leader Marcus Ericsson, and last year he was sixth with 88 points, 64 behind leader Palou.

Despite the current outlook, McLaughlin, who knows a thing or two about winning championships — having won three titles in Australian Supercars — is adamant that things can change further down the IndyCar season.

“It’s not frustrating,” he said of Palou’s form. “At the end of the day you can only do as much as you can. I mean, I’m driving this thing as fast as I can. Christian [Lundgaard] is doing the same. Alex [Palou] is doing the best he can. It turns out to be a really good job and solid. We all know it was going to be that way”.

“When a guy is at the top of his game, all you can do is try to be at the top of yours. We had a third place car and we finished third. That’s all we can do. Nothing more, nothing less. I learned that when I was racing Supercars, championship campaigns. You just have to be there. It is all swings and roundabouts. We’ll be strong at places he won’t. You just have to capitalize.

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren on the podium at the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

McLaughlin started Sunday’s race on the front row along with polesitter Palou, both on used softer alternate tires, but realized very early on that he didn’t have the pace to follow the pace of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car. He sat six seconds behind after the first 15 laps, and later also lost to Lundgaard.

“I think we were just third place today. We didn’t really have the pace from the start. From lap two I tried to push Alex. He just had a lot of speed. I just didn’t feel like I had a lot of grip. But the car was still good. It was still pretty fast. It just wasn’t as fast as the guys in front, the two in front,” he said.

The New Zealander claims he and Team Penske know what they need to do to try and break Palou’s dominance in the upcoming races, although he preferred to keep it to himself for the moment.

“Pure speed, man,” he replied when asked what areas of his car needed improvement. “I think these guys are executing. They’re just putting down good lap times, qualifying well and then executing in the race. Great strategy. Props to Barry (Wanser, Chip Ganassi Racing team manager) and the team they run on the 10 car. They’re doing a great job. Obviously they’ve got a really good driver. I think Alex is one of the best racing car drivers I’ve ever come across. He’s the whole deal.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t beat him, like I said. We know where we can improve, different facets that I can’t really reveal. At the end of the day, I think if we just keep knocking on the door, everybody has a bad race at some point. You have to try and keep knocking on the door.