Palou reneges on McLaren deal, will stay with Ganassi (4th Update)

Our sources now tell us that Alex Palou will stay with Ganassi in IndyCar for the foreseeable future, with an option to Aston Martin F1 team in 2026, because of the links with Honda.

Honda will supply F1 engines to Aston Martin starting in 2026. However, by then Alex Palou will be 29 years old, considered by many to be too old to start an F1 career in today’s day and age.

If true, Palou’s dream of becoming an F1 driver appears to be passing him by.

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Our sources tell us that before parting ways with Monaco Increase Management, Palou was managed by Roger Yasukawa, who took him to Dale Coyne Racing a few years ago.

Roger was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1977, from a Japanese family. His father, Minoru, had worked for both McLaren and Leyton House F1 teams so young Roger has always been strongly connected to motorsports.

As a driver, he raced in many American and European series and boasts a long-time participation in IndyCar IRL series which includes several Indy 500 editions. A long-time acquaintance of Alex Palou, Roger had assisted him on his way to the 2021 IndyCar title. Yasukawa is fluent in both English and Japanese and represented Monaco Increase Management on the IndyCar racing scene alongside Palou.

That relationship is now in shambles and a lawsuit may be coming.

We hear Honda are pushing for him to stay with Ganassi in IndyCar, or drive a Honda powered AlphaTauri F1 car if they can get Helmut Marko to agree.

A statement from Alex Palou’s management team that negotiated the deal with McLaren.

Monaco Increase Management is bitterly disappointed to learn about Alex Palou’s decision to break an existing agreement with McLaren for 2024 and beyond.

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.

As we understand it, there was an exit-clause in the McLaren contract that if they cannot guarantee him a F1 seat, he could exit. Apparently, Palou has executed that exit clause.

As we stated below, with two young F1 drivers in place, Palou would be a Reserve F1 driver for the McLaren F1 team (i.e. a bench warmer) and why would he want to drive for their IndyCar team that has not won a single race all year?

Honoring the contract and driving for McLaren would be a negative hit on Palou’s career.

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.

But did he? Was he sworn to secrecy?

Palou’s Options

Option A: If Palou stays in IndyCar, he is better off staying with Ganassi who wins races and championships regularly, unlike Arrow McLaren that only wins a race and a pole occasionally. Palou is currently closing in on his second IndyCar title in three years driving for Ganassi.

Option B:  If he is going to a F1 team that will put him in a race seat immediately (Alpha Tauri or Williams), he will take it.

Word is that AlphaTauri and Williams are interested in IndyCar driver Alex Palou and one of them is promising him a race seat in 2024.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

McLaren has two young F1 drivers in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.  Hence, if he went to drive for McLaren, he might not get a F1 ride for 10 years or more.

Hence, Zak brown 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.

“We dedicated a lot of time, money and resources preparing to welcome Alex into our team because we believed in him and were looking forward to IndyCar wins with him,” Brown wrote. “Coming out of his team dispute last fall, we were assured by Alex of his commitment to Arrow McLaren reflected in the contract he entered into with us.”

Brown said he has been reassured by Palou multiple times since this year’s Indianapolis 500 in May that he would be with McLaren next year. Because of those promises, Brown wrote “we have paid him a significant first payment toward his 2024 season in addition to the millions of dollars toward developing him in our Formula 1 testing program and in his reserve driver role with a potential drive in F1 in the future.”

Brown wrote that the McLaren expects Palou to honor his contract with the team, but will pursue 2024 driver lineup possibilities as the dispute is settled.

Palou is known to have been on Red Bull’s radar, as the team is still unsure what to do with its AlphaTauri driver line-up beyond this season.

And if American rookie Logan Sargeant does not show improvement in the 2nd half of the year, he could be replaced by highly regarded Palou.