Ex-IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe called Alex Palou "Max Verstappen of IndyCar". "What Palou is doing this year is outrageous. You don't see that kind of dominance in a category with the same specifications," he added. Comparing Palou's first-ever session in F1 car with McLaren's Lando Norris's timing, he added, "Palou was two tenths off Lando at Circuit of The Americas."