Christian Lundgaard explains what makes Alex Palou so dominant on IndyCar circuit

Christian Lundgaard has had a fantastic 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. 

The fourth-year driver sits fourth in the series standings with two races to go, and in his first year with Arrow McLaren, finishing third in the standings is a very real possibility for the 24-year-old from Hedensted, Denmark. 

The problem? Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team have dusted the IndyCar field in 2025. Palou locked up the title at Portland on Aug. 10, and the four-time series champ has won eight of 15 races in 2025. 

Going into Sunday's race at the Milwaukee Mile, Lundgaard and the rest of the field are hoping that they can at least get a leg up on Palou for once in 2025 as they look toward a fresh start in 2026.

"The thing is, they are so good at everything, and they're so good at executing," Lundgaard said of Palou and the No. 10 team. "Even if they make a mistake, it just seems like they have a little more pace they can use to make up for it. I think everybody else doesn't really have that. It just kind of demonstrates how strong that 10 car has been this year.

Palou has set the new benchmark for a dominant season, but Lundgaard believes that it won't take all that long for other teams to rise to the No. 10 team's level. 

"They've set a new benchmark for everybody," Lundgaard said. "There's a new baseline. Everybody needs to give more. I think that's the beauty of the sport, right? I think we've seen it so many times in other racing series at such a high level. There's going to be cars and teams and drivers that are dominating. 10 years down the road, they're suddenly not the ones dominating because everything evolves. I think that's the beauty of it." 

But even for Palou's competition, there's also some beauty to be found in such a dominant campaign. 

"I'm more than proud to be a part of a series and a generation where someone is so good, performing at such high level, because it only raises the bar for the future," Lundgaard said. "Once you kind of beat that guy, you feel even better about yourself.

In the next couple of years, I'm sure they will have a tougher time. People will catch up. I think that's just the nature of the sport." 

An evolution of dominance may be how sports evolve, but in the present, it's clear that Palou is the man to beat on the IndyCar circuit. 

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.