Formula 1: 5 drivers who should attempt the Indianapolis 500

Jolyon Palmer

Jolyon Palmer, 27, is not an active Formula 1 driver, but he belongs on this list for two key reasons. The first reason doesn’t directly pertain to the Indy 500, but it shows the impact he has had on IndyCar over the last several months even without ever getting into the cockpit of one of the cars.

When Palmer was released from Renault Sport toward the end of the 2017 Formula 1 season, he was replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr., who drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso at the time. This left a seat open at Toro Rosso, and Brendon Hartley, who was slated to take over as the full-time driver of the #10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing in IndyCar, ended up getting that ride at Toro Rosso.

Hartley was later confirmed as one of the team’s two full-time drivers for the 2018 season. This whole situation prompted Dale Coyne Racing’s Ed Jones to sign with Chip Ganassi Racing, leaving Dale Coyne Racing in the familiar position of searching for drivers to drive the #19 Honda since he had counted on Jones to return to the team for his second season this year.

The second reason is the fact that Palmer himself stated that he is not ruling out coming to IndyCar even before he was released from Renault toward the end of the 2017 Formula 1 season. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to Autosport.com.

"“I’m open, it’s an option, but outside of F1 there are a lot of places to go and race. Indy is one of them, but I’m not saying if it’s a preferred option or not. It’s obviously very different, and requires a lot of thinking…I’ve always said that I prefer wheel-to-wheel racing.”"

While his results in Formula 1 were not the greatest, Palmer certainly did more than a lot of people give him credit for given the fact that he never drove for a top-tier team. He finished in 10th place in the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, sixth in the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix, and he had nine finishes of 11th or 12th place over his two-year career in the sport that were extremely close to resulting in points finishes for him.

At only 27 years of age, Palmer should still have several years left in his racing career if all goes well for him. Even if becoming a full-time IndyCar driver is not on his agenda, him driving in the Indy 500 certainly should not be out of the picture given the fact that he prefers wheel-to-wheel racing.