But talk about awkward. Palou’s season has been smeared by an ugly contractual dispute that has gone legal, following his shock summer declaration that a Chip Ganassi Racing statement saying he would be retained by the team for 2023 – and included a quote from the driver – was false, and that he would instead be switching to Arrow McLaren. A ruling should be due in the next month, with rumours suggesting McLaren might need to find many millions of dollars to get its man if it falls in Ganassi’s favour. So was this Palou’s final appearance in a Ganassi car? You’d have to think so.
The faces in the Laguna Victory Lane were a picture. Behind the winner, his crew lined up in ‘celebration’, but with expressions fixed into constipated half-smiles. Chip Ganassi himself was just over Palou’s left shoulder, the signature shades and baseball cap ensuring he gave little away, having leaned into the cockpit for a word as Palou pulled up.
So was this his last race in the No 10, Alex was asked. “Things are evolving good, so we’ll see when we can tell,” Palou burbled with an embarrassed smile. “We’ll enjoy the moment and see what happens.” As weird as it gets – until the Oscar Piastri affair matched it!
As for Power, he’d kept his cool to nail the third place he need to confirm himself as champion. There had been no requirement to chase after Newgarden and risk everything in a hard-racing move, whatever the old instincts might have been telling him. His team-mate’s sterling efforts earned him second in the standings, but still 16 points shy of Power.
“I just knew I absolutely had to get the most out of those stints and not lose any more positions,” said Power, soaking in his moment of satisfaction. “Man, I had to drive the thing today. It was on the edge and very loose. Man, what a relief to get that done!
“In the off-season my wife said to me ‘you are going to beat Mario’s record and win the championship’ – she said that to me and it gave me confidence I could actually go and do it. That’s how much confidence I have in her gut feel. She said those words and I just can’t believe they have come true.”