Alex Palou has asserted his dominance in IndyCar in recent years, clinching his third consecutive title and fourth overall in the American championship.
His rise has naturally led to rumours linking him with Red Bull, especially with Yuki Tsunoda’s contract expiring ahead of the 2026 season.
Tsunoda was always going to face scrutiny, given that Red Bull promoted him to the main team to help them reclaim the Constructors’ title. That has not panned out so far, with just seven points picked up since joining after round two of the season.
Palou’s track record would make him an intriguing addition. But comments from Helmut Marko, shared by Andrew Benson in his BBC Sport column, hint that a move might not be on the cards after all.
Helmut Marko says Red Bull makes stars rather than buying them
Red Bull is renowned for their driver development system, which paved the way for the rise of world champions like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, as well as established F1 names such as Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson.
Sergio Perez joined Red Bull in 2020 after a strong season with Racing Point. But even that move had ties to the past – Perez had driven for Christian Horner’s Arden GP2 team earlier in his career.
Marko’s comments suggest Red Bull, who rarely buy talent, may not sign Palou.
Benson wrote: “At the same time, how Red Bull are going to operate in the driver market in the future is unknown at the moment, as Christian Horner has gone, and Laurent Mekies is now working alongside motorsport adviser Helmut Marko.
“The general philosophy remains the same, though. As Marko put it when I was talking to him about drivers recently: “At Red Bull, we make stars, we don’t buy them.”
Red Bull’s previous attempts to sign IndyCar drivers
This would not be Red Bull’s first attempt to bring in talent from IndyCar. Back in 2022, they looked into signing Colton Herta for a seat at Racing Bulls, who were known as AlphaTauri at the time.
But Herta did not have enough points for an FIA F1 superlicence, and that stopped any move from going forward.
Palou has built up enough points through his success in IndyCar to qualify for a superlicence. He has also met the kilometre requirements through Friday practice sessions and previous car tests with McLaren.
But given his ongoing success in IndyCar and past contract issues with McLaren and Chip Ganassi, it would be surprising if he left the series in 2026 to take on such an uncertain role with Red Bull.
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