McLaren boss says Palou won’t honor deal with team for ’24
The long contractual saga surrounding IndyCar championship leader Alex Palou took another wild twist Friday when the head of McLaren Racing told his team the Spaniard has “no intention of honoring his contract” with the team next year.
In a letter sent to the Arrow McLaren Racing employees by boss Zak Brown, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Brown wrote that Palou had given him multiple assurances he’d be wearing papaya in 2024 and has already received an advance on his salary.
“This is incredibly disappointing considering the commitment he has made to us both directly and publicly and our significant investment in him based on that commitment,” Brown wrote.
The management firm that negotiated Palou’s contract with McLaren last year expressed its own disappointment in Palou’s latest change of mind.
“Monaco Increase Management is bitterly disappointed to learn about Alex Palou’s decision to break an existing agreement with McLaren for 2024 and beyond,” the firm said in a Saturday statement. “Together, we had built a relationship that we thought went beyond any contractual obligation and culminated in winning the 2021 IndyCar crown and tracing a path to F1 opportunities. Life goes on and we wish Alex all the best for his future achievements.”
It was public knowledge through the F1 paddock that MIM was shopping Palou to F1 teams this summer as his deal with McLaren had an out that would release Palou for an F1 seat in 2024 if he found one by July 1. At Indianapolis on Thursday, Palou told reporters he had nothing lined up in F1.
Brown, meanwhile, most recently said in July that Palou would join McLaren on a full-time basis as its F1 reserve driver as soon as the IndyCar season ends in September. Palou has already
Alex Palou is seen Friday during a practice session for Indianapolis GP. had several testing sessions in the McLaren F1 car.
The letter Brown sent to McLaren employees went out shortly after Friday’s final IndyCar Series on-track session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Palou holds an 84-point lead over Josef Newgarden in the standings with four races remaining this season.
Palou starts eighth on Saturday on the Indianapolis road course.
Palou last July upended the free agent market when he publicly rebuked Chip Ganassi Racing’s attempt to pick up the option Ganassi held on him for 2023. Palou said he instead was joining both McLaren’s IndyCar program and had a Formula One contract. Palou went public with the Ganassi dispute in a series of social media posts and wrote “as I have recently informed CGR, for personal reasons, I do not intend to continue with the team after 2022.”
McLaren then immediately announced Palou’s hiring with its own social media post that began: “¡Hola Alex!”
The social media posts became a bit of a joke in the racing world as drivers from other series began using Palou’s wording to update their own free agent status.
Ganassi, though, wasn’t laughing. He fought the defection and the sides settled through mediation with Palou remaining in IndyCar with Ganassi this year, but testing as a reserve driver for McLaren on his off weekends.