Sonsio GP polesitter Alex Palou has admitted he and Chip Ganassi Racing held an advantage over the rest of the field during qualifying.
The RLL team looked set to take a shock pole position at the Sonsio GP, before Alex Palou snatched away the coveted spot in the dying seconds.
On the pace all weekend, the Spanish driver had threatened the on form RLL’s in practice and early stages of qualifying. Speaking on pit row after getting out of his car, Palou revealed his secret weapon., admitting a new set of red, soft tyres gave him a distinct advantage.
“We had a bit of an advantage there with a set of new soft tyres. I think some people used them in Q1 (first round of qualifying), and we didn’t. Maybe that’s where the time comes.
“But that No. 10 DHL car was amazing. Super-fast. It’s been super-fast all season, honestly, but today it’s been on fire.”
The lockup that almost cost Alex Palou Sonsio GP pole position
Speaking in the post qualifying press conference, Palou admitted he had been struggling with front tyre locking. One major lockup in the Fast Six
“The car’s been really, really fast all day, but especially qualifying. Qualifying was really, really good. [I} had a couple of moments there, locking a couple of tyres, especially on fast six, which that was not… Turn 1. That was big.
“I’ve been struggling, I think everybody’s been struggling a little bit on locking. I think the tyre, the track grip is super high, gives you a lot of confidence.
“So we start pushing, pushing, pushing, but we get to a point where the tyre says no. Which makes it really fun to drive, but then suddenly you get moments like that where the tyre doesn’t like it.
“We’re going to have to use that tyre tomorrow, so it’s going to be exciting.”
When asked if taking back to back clean sweeps of pole position and victory, Palou said: “That would be very nice. That would be the goal, yes.I don’t know if many people would be happy about that, but that’s what I would like.”
Alex, when did you decide that you go to qualifying without practicing reds in practice?
An pole securing strategy for Alex Palou at the Sonsio GP
When asked about going into qualifying without using a set of red tyres, Palou revealed the team’s logic.
“Well, this time we had one set of tyres less than normal, especially to what we had this season. Instead of five and five, we had six and four and the same amount of practice.
“We didn’t have to use a brand new set for the race.We can start on use, but obviously that puts you in a not ideal scenario.
“So there were some cars that ran it in practice, which I think they got benefit from. I think all the three cars ran in practice.
“And then there were people that ran two sets of alternates brand new in Q1 to try and make it. But we’re confident that we’re going to be able to still make it on blacks and then one set of alternates and keep one brand new set of alternates for tomorrow.”
