Palou takes pole in Washington, eyes fifth IndyCar title

Alex Palou will start from pole position at the Washington Grand Prix on Sunday, seeking to clinch his fifth IndyCar championship. The Spanish driver set the fastest time in Saturday's qualifying session, completing the Washington street circuit in 56.899 seconds. He finished ahead of his closest championship rival, American Kyle Kirkwood, who posted a time of 57.466 seconds. Palou described the qualifying session as challenging due to traffic, but expressed his satisfaction with securing his seventh pole of the season. "It was a very fun lap, with a very fun car to drive. Another pole, so I couldn't be happier. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. It's 250 miles here and it's going to be tough," Palou stated. This potential fifth championship would follow his previous victories in 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025, with three races still remaining in the season. Palou currently holds a commanding 133-point lead over Kirkwood, a margin expected to extend to 162 points. "I want that trophy. We all want it at Chip Ganassi Racing. As soon as we saw that it was such a beautiful trophy, we wanted to win it. So yes, we are going to give it our all and focus on the race," the Catalan driver added, emphasizing the team's desire for the prize.

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The qualifying was complicated, there was a lot of traffic and it was difficult to make a perfect lap.