Rumor: Palou to replace Alonso or Stroll at Aston Martin (Update)

Alex Palou has broken his silence on the McLaren saga, and it does nothing to dispel the rumor he dropped McLaren because it was a dead-end.

If he wants to drive in F1 as a regular full-time driver and not a McLaren reserve, Aston Martin is his ticket. If it’s true Lawrence Stroll wants Palou, then money is no object.

“I think someday I’ll write a story, and maybe a book, so everybody knows what was going on since ’22 and ’23, each month. But yeah, for now, I’m not gonna give a lot of information,” he said.

“I think maybe after the season, I can sit down and explain a lot more, I don’t think it would help anybody or anyone to start now.”

As for speculation that McLaren are seeking $20-$30 million from the driver, the 26-year-old said: “Honestly, I don’t really understand.

“I can ask you for as much as I want – I can ask you 400 million because you asked me a tough question. So yeah, honestly, it might or might not be concerning for the lawyers so I don’t really know.

“The lawyers are telling me stuff about how it’s going on and what they think – so that’s good, it’s in their hands.

“I’m just trying to be a bit more away from all that to last year and trying to really go for races and focusing on the racing.

“I know everything [that] is going on and I’m not taking that apart but there’s also nothing, [not] a lot more than I can do there, let’s say.

“So I can only lose concentration on the races and all that stuff.”

“I would say it’s just sad. I would have liked to have done things differently. But it’s not been that way. And I’m just sad the way it’s worked out.

“But yeah, I cannot really change it and just change everything and colour it and make it a little more nice. It’s not that way.”

As good as Fernando Alonso is, he is up there in age and Lawrence Stroll is already planning for the day when he needs to replace him – likely in 2025 or 2026.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Speculation is that it’s Lawrence Stroll’s F1 pulling the purse strings in the background that stopped Alex Palou from going to McLaren in 2024.

According to speculation, Stroll and Honda might have intervened in Palou’s decision-making process to go to McLaren.

The Japanese automaker, set to supply engines to Aston Martin from 2026, might have extended an enticing offer to Palou, encouraging him to explore the potential of joining the British team in the future. This speculation gains more traction when considering Palou’s current IndyCar team is powered by Honda.

When the Aston Martin project was initially presented, Honda expressed interest in having a say in the drivers’ lineup.

Everyone assumed they wanted to place a Japanese driver in the team. This is something Honda has always done in both F1 and IndyCar.

But now comes word they may want to replace one Spaniard with another – Palou for Alonso – at Aston Martin.