Palou and O'Ward again behind the wheel with McLaren at the Red Bull Ring

IndyCar drivers Patricio O'Ward and Alex Palou were at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on Thursday and Friday, testing with McLaren's Formula 1 team.

McLaren seems to have big plans for its IndyCar drivers, who were also recently in action during a test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Mexican O'Ward has a contract with the Arrow McLaren SP team for next year, while Spain's Palou will once again race for Chip Ganassi Racing.

A real controversy played out around Palou's contract over the past few months, not unlike the conflict between Oscar Piastri and Alpine in Formula 1. Like Alpine, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that it had an agreement with Palou for next year, but the driver debunked that message via Twitter a few hours later.

McLaren wanted to sign the Spaniard for the 2023 IndyCar season and put out a similar statement via Twitter, but the driver's current employer wanted nothing to do with that. Chip Ganassi Racing took Palou to court, but before it came to a trial, the parties reached an agreement. Palou will continue to drive for Chip Ganassi through 2023, but the team agreed to "loan" the driver to McLaren for some testing with last year's MCL35M.