by Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP) — Three-time Indycar champion Alex Palou is scheduled to fly to London after the Rolex 24 at Daytona to mediate with McLaren, the racing team that was suing him for at least $30 million over a breach contractual dispute.
Palou in 2022 signed a contract to drive for McLaren’s IndyCar team, but this put the Spaniard in breach with Chip Ganassi Racing, who held an option on the driver for the 2023 season. This dispute was settled by Palou’s mediation and deal was changed to join McLaren in 2024, and Ganassi allowed him to be Formula One’s reserve driver that year.
The mediation is scheduled for Tuesday and Palou is part of the Meyer Shank Racing lineup at Daytona International Speedway.
Palou tested McLaren’s F1 car and took part in a practice session at Circuit of the Americas in 2022. He was part of McLaren’s team and wore papaya-colored uniforms at the Miami Grand Prix in May 2023, but by August, he had changed his mind at Miami about leaving Ganassi.
McLaren was informed by Palou’s lawyer that he would not join the IndyCar team as planned, and McLaren responded by suing the driver. Among the damages McLaren is seeking are the return of an advance the team paid to Palou from his salary, money spent on the development of F1 and restoration of financial losses from sponsors and partners who expected Palou to be in the car.
Palou’s About-Face was driven in part by his belief that there was no path to an open F1 seat at McLaren because its current drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, are locked into long-term contracts. And, if there was no way to get into F1, Palou felt he was better off staying at Ganassi, which is the stronger of the two IndyCar teams.
This wreaked havoc for McLaren’s IndyCar team, which was left without a driver very late in the planning phase for 2024. The team eventually signed David Malukas, but he broke his wrist in a bicycle accident before the season opener and was dismissed when he missed his fourth race, per the terms of the contract.
McLaren used three different drivers in the car in 2024 – and even announced Théo Pourchaire as a full-time driver – but then dumped Pourchaire for Nolan Siegel, a 20-year-old Le Mans who is part-owned by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown.
Palou, who won his first IndyCar title in 2021, has since added back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. He and Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon drive for Meyer Shank Racing in the Rolex 24, which begins Saturday at Daytona International Speedway and Runs twice out of 24.
Then he will travel to London for mediation as his lawyers try to mitigate the amount of money Palou must pay McLaren.
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This story has been corrected to show Palou was with McLaren in Miami in 2023, not 2022.
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AP Auto Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
