McLaren Racing Limited and Arrow McLaren IndyCar team have cooperatively sued both Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing in United Kingdom Commercial Court, The Indianapolis Star reported on Aug. 18.
McLaren took the initiative following Palou’s intention to honor his contractual obligations with McLaren that would’ve seen the Spaniard and 2023 IndyCar points leader drive with fellow Arrow McLaren drivers Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi, according to a letter sent from McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to Arrow McLaren.
Brown also detailed in the letter that Palou was ‘paid a significant first payment toward his 2024 season, in addition to the millions of dollars toward developing him in our Formula 1 testing program and in his reserve driver role with a potential drive in F1 in the future.’
In the same letter to The Indianapolis Star, Brown responded to the lawsuits filed by his team against Palou Friday (Aug. 18) evening: “We made a significant investment in Alex Palou, looking forward to racing with him in 2024. We’re placing our trust in the legal system to resolve this matter and will keep our comments at that.
“As a team, we’re turning our focus on the final races this season and on our plans for 2024, which we’ll announce once we’re ready.”
In a separate statement to The Indianapolis Star, the team, on behalf of Brown, said, “I’m extremely disappointed that Alex Palou does not intend to honor his contractual obligations to race with us in IndyCar in 2024 and beyond.”
According to a statement from Chip Ganassi on Aug. 12, “Alex Palou has been a part of our team and under contract since the 2021 season. It is the interference of that contract from McLaren that began this process and ironically, they are now playing the victim. Simply stated, the position of McLaren IndyCar regarding our driver is inaccurate and wrong; he remains under contract with CGR.”
The drama extends from last year, where CGR sued Palou for a breach of contract by signing with McLaren when CGR affirmed it still had Palou under contract after picking up his 2023 option.
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Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
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“Potential Drive in F1 in the future…”
Appears as though this may be the sticking point. What potential is there for Palou to drive F1 for McLaren? They have Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri; Piastri BTW was signed away from another team by Zach Brown.
There’s a common denominator here, and it’s not Alex Palou. Beginning to sound like Zach Brown dangled an F1 ride to Palou and Palou finally realized it’s not happening soon with McLaren
I agree, especially since Chip chimed in on McLaren. He doesn’t generally say stuff like that about other team owners. At least not publicly.