DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou must fly to London following the Rolex 24 at Daytona for mediation with McLaren, the race team suing him for at least $30 million over a breach of contract dispute.
Palou in 2022 signed a contract to drive for McLaren's IndyCar team, but that put the Spaniard in breach with Chip Ganassi Racing, which held an option on the driver for the 2023 season. That dispute was settled through mediation and Palou's deal was amended to join McLaren in 2024, and Ganassi allowed him to be the Formula 1 reserve driver that year.
Mediation is scheduled for Tuesday and Palou is part of Meyer Shank Racing's lineup at Daytona International Speedway.
Palou tested McLaren's F1 car and participated in a practice session at Circuit of the Americas in 2022. He was part of the McLaren team and wearing papaya-colored uniforms at the Miami Grand Prix in May 2023, but by August, he had changed his mind about leaving Ganassi.
McLaren was notified by Palou's attorney that he wouldn't be joining the IndyCar team as planned, and McLaren responded by suing the driver. Among the damages McLaren is seeking is the return of an advance the team paid Palou on his salary, money spent on F1 development and recovery 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 for 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.
It created havoc for McLaren's IndyCar team, which was left without a driver very late in the planning phase for 2024. The team ultimately signed David Malukas, but he broke his wrist in a cycling accident before the season opened and was fired when he missed his fourth race, as per contract terms.
McLaren used three different drivers in the car in 2024 — and even announced Théo Pourchaire as the full-time driver — but then dumped Pourchaire for 20-year-old Nolan Siegel after Siegel was part of the winning class entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that is partially 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 are driving for Meyer Shank Racing in the Rolex 24, which starts Saturday at Daytona International Speedway and runs twice-round-the-clock.
Then he will travel to London for mediation as his attorneys attempt to mitigate the amount of money Palou has to pay McLaren.
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This story has been corrected to show that Palou was with McLaren in Miami in 2023, not 2022.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
