A rumor emerged toward the end of the 2025 IndyCar season that the Red Bull Formula 1 team had reached out to four-time and three-time reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou to inquire about his availability to join Max Verstappen as a part of their driver lineup from 2026.
The newest Indy 500 winner and his IndyCar team owner, Chip Ganassi, under no obligation to actually respond to the alleged story, both came out and denied the rumor, and their responses say it all.
Ganassi, who said he thinks it's a "clickbait story" just days after confirming that Palou is under a multi-year contract and has said he wants to remain in IndyCar, noted that nobody was actually quoted in it.
Palou theorizes that it came about from another driver's management to angle for his No. 10 Honda.
"There's been nothing, nothing at all. We have heard nothing from anyone," Palou said, according to The Associated Press, shortly after the report emerged. "The only thing I've heard was it was a manager for some other driver in IndyCar who would like to have my seat who said it to start something."
Even if not particularly for that reason, simply getting into Palou's head before the start of the third consecutive offseason he's set to enter with his eyes on defending a title would also make sense.
But Palou, who is probably among the top drivers most likely not to be rattled by such a claim, and Ganassi seem to be onto whatever tricks are being thrown at them.
Look, we get it. Starting racing rumors online can actually lead to things happening. Just ask Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin; NASCAR team 23XI Racing wouldn't exist otherwise. You're welcome.
But as for Palou, come on.
Ever since the Palou-McLaren saga unfolded in 2022 (and then extended the other way around in 2023), the media have been looking for ways to link Palou to Formula 1 and to stir up drama. The fact that McLaren supposedly played a role in Red Bull "no longer being interested" in Palou two years ago just adds another layer to the drama.
But that was done and dusted two years ago.
And it's not just Palou, either. How many times over the past few years have we seen headlines about Colton Herta or Pato O'Ward being linked to an F1 seat? And how many F1 starts to they have by now?
At least, in offseason number five of such rumors, Herta is actually set to head to Europe this time around (but not as a Formula 1 driver just yet).
It's like playing roulette at this point. At some point, if you hit, it's going to make you look good. But at this point, you're placing your bet on a single number, and that number is ice cold, and that's what we're looking at here with Palou. Heck, at this point, that number is probably 37, given how many swings and misses we've seen in this particular avenue of silly season nonsense.
I sort of get why folks are reluctant to fully trust Palou after what happened in 2022, but how many times has he referenced the fact that he made a mistake and moved on? He did it during his Indy 500 victory banquet speech, and he recently brought it up again when asked to reflect on his career journey.
"I would try to avoid having any bumps with the team with contracts, but I think that's part of me," he told the media, including Beyond the Flag. "That's part of who I am today as well, probably, mentally. ... I'm not proud about everything that happened in 2022, 2023."
Let's not forget that he never actually denied the McLaren links in early 2022 when they emerged. With this phantom Red Bull link, he came straight out and denied it almost right away.
And that's exactly why it's worth bringing up again as the court case between him and McLaren reveals more and more about what went down – and for what it's worth, it certainly doesn't paint Palou as the bad guy like some fans once thought a few years ago.
That should be the end of the story, until someone gets bored around Thanksgiving and Christmas and starts linking him to Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton to early retirement.
Please don't take that seriously.