Max Verstappen believes that it is a ‘waste of time’ to debate the difficulty of switching from IndyCar to Formula One. The Dutchman could reportedly have a new team-mate in the form of four-time series champion Alex Palou, with the Spaniard linked with Yuki Tsunoda‘s seat for the 2026 season. Palou clinched his fourth IndyCar title, and his third in a row, with a third-place finish in Portland, two rounds before the end of the 2025 campaign.

The 28-year-old has been unstoppable this season, scoring eight victories in 16 outings, and finishing on the podium a further four times. The Barcelona-born star is now being linked with a move to F1 with Red Bull, who are weighing up their driver line-up options for the 2026 campaign. Tsunoda has struggled since stepping up from Racing Bulls, and Liam Lawson was dropped after just two race weekends with the main team.

While Palou’s IndyCar performances since the end of 2022 put him up there with the best racing drivers in the world, how his skills would translate to F1 are unclear. While a number of former stars have made the move Stateside in recent years, including Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean, the reverse is much more rare.

“So difficult to say,” Verstappen replied when asked about the transition at the Dutch Grand Prix. “I mean, I know Alex already from karting times, and I think what he’s doing in IndyCar is incredible.

“It’s so impressive to see. But it’s impossible to know how people will do in F1, and it’s the same question the other way round. How will you do in IndyCar? No idea. So for me it’s always a waste of time, really, trying to debate that.”

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While Verstappen isn’t entertaining the idea, Williams team principal James Vowles has made his thoughts on the matter clear. The ex-Mercedes man revealed that his squad considered Palou as a target, but were concerned about the transition time required to be competitive in F1.

“Palou is super-fast,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “We had him on our list. But there are two problems. With his track record, he wouldn’t be a cheap starter. I reckon he plays in the price range beyond five million dollars. And, he wouldn’t be helped by a test or a Friday training session.

“Palou would have to go through the same programme as an [Kimi] Antonelli or [Oliver] Bearman. They have completed up to 10,000 kilometres in old Formula One cars. That means he would have to take a year off and sacrifice himself completely to preparation. I can hardly imagine that he would want to do that given his status.”