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John
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#16

Post by John »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Ruslan wrote: 2 years ago Alex Palou: Am I being overly critical, but this guy does not seem to really have much of a "resume." After eight seasons in F3, F2 and Indy, he wins a championship. Was this a very good driver overlooked in Europe, or.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lex_Palou
I've always rated Palou as a good-but-not-great driver. He did a good job during his rookie season but I sure as hell did not see a championship run.
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#17

Post by DoubleFart »

John wrote: 2 years ago
Ruslan wrote: 2 years ago Alex Palou: Am I being overly critical, but this guy does not seem to really have much of a "resume." After eight seasons in F3, F2 and Indy, he wins a championship. Was this a very good driver overlooked in Europe, or.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lex_Palou
I've always rated Palou as a good-but-not-great driver. He did a good job during his rookie season but I sure as hell did not see a championship run.
Finished 7th in 2018 Euro F3. He was beaten by Schumacher, Ticktum, Shwartzman, Vips and Armstrong.
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#18

Post by Vassago »

I watched the 2014 EuroFormula Open season where he finished 3rd overall behind Artur Janosz and the legend of Sandy Stuvik. I'd never think he ends up as IndyCar champion, hell, I had his ceiling like several of Spanish drivers from early 00s, Borja Garcia or Felix Porteiro - backmarkers in F2 at best. Once he went to Japan I thought he stays there for a long while too. Ed Jones was a complete reach for Ganassi but Palou made less sense than Rosenqvist on paper. And he would have utterly dominated the points if not for VeeKay's brain freeze & the engine failure at IMS road course.
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#19

Post by MonteCristo »

John wrote: 2 years ago
Ruslan wrote: 2 years ago Alex Palou: Am I being overly critical, but this guy does not seem to really have much of a "resume." After eight seasons in F3, F2 and Indy, he wins a championship. Was this a very good driver overlooked in Europe, or.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lex_Palou
I've always rated Palou as a good-but-not-great driver. He did a good job during his rookie season but I sure as hell did not see a championship run.
Yep.

Last year I thought: "Oh, ok, he's not crap. He can drive a car, and if he brings a bit of money he'll fit in."

Then the Ganassi deal came up, and I thought: "Oh, ok, that explains it. Clearly made of money to pay for that car. He'll get a podium or two if he's lucky. He might fluke a win based on a fuel economy run."

But yeah, this year he's obviously been really solid. Yet I can't help to feel that it's a bit hollow. He out-Dixoned Dixon by being pretty fast, but consistent. And if the Penske's didn't constantly break down I feel that the season would have been totally different.

That said, Palou also had some issues beyond his control. Far from bullet proof mechanically and got run into. So in the end he earned it. He didn't luck into it.
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