Winners and losers from the 2025 Indy 500

An absolutely bonkers Indianapolis 500 gave us far more losers than winners, but still: what a race the 109th edition ended up being.

It went right down to the wire between two very familiar faces - and a third candidate potentially showing what he can do in the future - while a host of drivers who were expected to challenge were taken out (or took themselves out) of contention.

Here we pick our winners and losers right after the chequered flag.

Winner: Alex Palou

Saying his career wouldn't be complete without winning a Indy 500 at some point, Palou has now netted that achievement and surpassed Dan Wheldon's incredible start to the 2005 season - in which Wheldon won four of the first five including the Indy 500 (Palou has won five of six including the Indy 500).

If he can win a third title in a row at the end of the year - he has a 118-point advantage already - he'll join such a small club of drivers who have done that and won an Indy 500. Ted Horne (1946-48) and Dario Franchitti (2009-11) are the only other two to have done so.

And here's a shoutout to the Indy 500 no longer being double points. If it was, Palou would be over 160 points clear after six races.

The win came with a decisive move on Marcus Ericsson 14 laps from the end that showed he learned the lessons of when to and not to attack that he didn't have when he was pipped late for victory himself by Helio Castroneves in the 2021 event.

Loser: Josef Newgarden

People thought I was mad to pick him as a candidate for victory considering he started 32nd, but Josef Newgarden was inside the top 10 with 80 laps run - a good chunk of which were neutralised under caution.

He was spectacular as the race reached its halfway point, passing high and low, and ran as high as fifth before his penultimate pitstop, where he suffered an issue and had to retire.

He wouldn’t have been a popular winner - Penske's left fans with a sour taste in the mouth following the team's attenuator scandal in qualifying - but a first ever three-in-a-row winner would have been a great story. And honestly, what's sport without the kind of theatre that would've offered?

A fuel-pump related issue ruled him out in the second half ending his impressive run.

Loser: Marcus Ericsson

In the context of his disappointing career at Andretti so far, this was a success for Marcus Ericsson and his best performance for the team so far.

But missing out on winning the Indy 500 when you come so close is always going to count as a loss.

Especially as Ericsson left the door open for Palou to make the move at Turn 1 with 14 laps to go, which appeared to take the Swede by surprise and something which will "keep me up at night" replaying.

Loser: Robert Shwartzman

Rookie Robert Shwartzman stayed up front from his incredible pole, falling only to fourth in the early running, before a desperately slow first pitstop kicked him outside the top 20.

Then at his stop on lap 87/200 he locked up and smashed the wall, collecting his front tyre changer and refueller in the process. Luckily no one was seriously injured, but his car was damaged.

This was a perfect display of how having a fast car is only a part of putting together a successful Indy 500.

Team-mate Callum Ilott used his experience to tame his Prema car and make it easier to drive. He ran well into the top 10 at times and managed to turn his 21st starting spot into a 12th-place finish, a great result for Prema.

Loser: Scott McLaughlin

After crashing in practice before qualifying last weekend, McLaughlin lost his Penske car on the formation lap and crashed into the pitwall, ending his race before it started.

Unless something broke, which hasn't been indicated, it looks like McLaughlin just committed one of motorsport's unforgivable sins by losing the rear while trying to warm up the tyres.

His crestfallen interview afterwards - he called himself a "rookie" and described it as "by far the worst moment of my life" - reflected just what he thought of it.

Winner: David Malukas

It's been a tough start to the season for David Malukas as so far the team he left, Meyer Shank, has proven to be better than the AJ Foyt Racing team he joined. But the 500 was a good reset for Malukas.

While his team-mate Santino Ferrucci is usually the star here at Indy, Ferrucci has struggled this month and Malukas has seemed much more serene. On Sunday he fought with all his might and grabbed his best Indy 500 result, taking home a top-three finish.

Perhaps it can help kickstart the rest of his season. It's a great achievement given he was without a seat at last year's event.

Loser: Kyle Larson

McLaren's guest star Kyle Larson was lucky to race at all given the rain delay at the start, as he had a hard cut-off and needed to leave to get to Charlotte for the NASCAR Cup race.

That was just one of many signs this month that this wouldn't be his event.

He had a slow first pitstop after he dumped the clutch seemingly too early but also selected second, and then on the restart just before halfway he got too low in Turn 1, and a fateful downshift spun his car out of control and into the wall.

He also collected Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb.

It's been a really disappointing month for the NASCAR points leader, who might not do this event again for a long time. That's no way to sign off.

And his team-mate Nolan Siegel also crashed on the last lap, bringing out a caution right before the finish.

Loser: Alexander Rossi

Alexander Rossi had gone off-sync on strategy in his first Indy 500 for new team Ed Carpenter, running up at the front as a result, but the 2016 winner later had smoke coming out of his car and came in to stop - where a leaking fuel hose ignited and endangered his crew.

He jumped out of his car and launched his gloves into the wall in disgust. He was certainly in contention prior to that.

Loser: Ryan Hunter-Reay

The 2014 winner was leading late in the race before fuelling issue was then followed by a lack of acceleration that forced a follow-up visit to the pits and a further delay.

That meant a car which hadn't turned a lap before Saturday - after his primary car was set ablaze in practice on Friday and barely had salvageable parts - almost challenged for the Indy 500 win.

His Dreyer & Reinbold team-mate Jack Harvey didn't fair much better, coming home in 22nd after he struggled to get slowed down for his last stop and received a penalty.

Loser: Scott Dixon

A brake fire on the formation lap was astonishingly extinguished by staying out on track, but it caused lasting damage for Scott Dixon, who criminally still only has the one Indy 500 win.

That's now two wins for his Ganassi team-mates in the last four years. When is he going to get his again? He deserves more than one.

Loser: Marco Andretti

Marco Andretti only does one race a year now, and his 20th start in the Indy 500 ended on the first lap as the result of a chain reaction of cars moving up the track.

That was triggered by Hunter-Reay, which in turn pushed Harvey up into Andretti - who spun and crashed with no where to go.