McLaren drags IndyCar driver Palou to court
F1 News
Arrow McLaren has filed a lawsuit against IndyCar driver Alex Palou and race team ALPA Racing USA, IndyStar reports. According to the team, agreements have been made that Palou will drive for McLaren's IndyCar team in 2024. Last weekend, Palou announced that he would not switch to Arrow McLaren.
Palou and McLaren
Palou currently drives in IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing. He came into conflict with that team a year ago because he wanted to switch to Arrow McLaren for 2023. Ganassi went to court, because he believed he had a valid contract with the former champion. In addition, Ganassi had an exclusive option on Palou until September 2023. Ganassi was eventually proved right, although it was agreed that Palou could do tests on behalf of the McLaren F1 team and would become a reserve driver. It was an open secret that Palou also wanted to switch to Arrow McLaren for 2024.
According to CEO Zak Brown, verbal agreements had already been made with Palou for 2024, and advances had been made and costs incurred. Nevertheless, Palou announced that he would not go to Arrow McLaren in '24. Chip Ganassi has now announced that the Spaniard will stay with his team. In a lawsuit, Arrow claims McLaren will soon be financially compensated for all costs incurred.
Why Palou is not switching to Arrow McLaren. You can read it all in this analysis by GPblog.