Back in the day, it used to be that world class racing drivers raced across a number of different series. Formula One drivers regularly competed in the Indy500 which was an F1 championship points scoring race between 1950 and 1960.

Graham Hill famously won the Indy500, the F1 championship and Le Mans becoming the only driver to ever complete what is known as motorsport’s “Triple Crown.”

13 F1 drivers win Indy500

In all thirteen F1 drivers have won the Indy500 the most recent being Juan Pablo Montoya at the 99th running of the even in 2015.

Over the years the divergence of the premier class of single seater racing from either side of the transatlantic has seen fewer and fewer drivers cross from Formula One to IndyCar and even fewer the other way around.

Red Bull Racing made a last ditch effort towards the end of last season to sign the exciting young Californian Indycar driver Colton Herta. However, even though there were exceptional circumstances due to Covid restrictions that had affected his previous record, the FIA refused to consider this and denied him the necessary superlicense t driver in F1.

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McLaren also tried to sign the 2021 Indycar champion Alex Palou from Chip Ganassi Racing which created a legal dispute between the driver and his team. This was resolved with Palou remaining for this year with Ganassi.

Palou is Spanish though sprung to global fame since his debut for Dale Coyne Racing in 2020. He has claimed pole position in the last three Indycar events including the blue ribband event held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Palou went on to win two of the three though was taken out in the pitlane while in contention for the Indy500 which he eventually finished 4th.

Today the young Spaniard is testing for McLaren at the Hungaroring where the F1 circus will decamp in July. Due to FIA regulations preventing team’s testing their current cars, McLaren is running their 2021 chassis, the MCL35M.

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Indicar champion tests today for McLaren

Palou debuted in Formula One last season when driving for McLaren in free practice one at the United States Grand Prix in Austin. F1 teams are required to field two drivers with no more than two F1 races experience in two practice sessions each season.

McLaren’s other rookie F1 drive was take by Palou’s fellow Indycar driver, Pato O’Ward.

Palou is on his way to a second IndyCar title in three years and his contract with Ganassi was finally determined to complete at the end of this season.

As yet McLaren have not indicated whether they will attempt to sign the Spanish star for next year but even if they do, he will most likely compete in 2024 for the team’s Arrow McLaren Indycar entry.

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Nothing but the sound of an F1 car on a race track. 😍🔊 pic.twitter.com/H6Qf4JYevh

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 8, 2023