Alex Palou has said he signed a McLaren contract based on “lies and false impressions”, and that he will be paying the cost of his current legal battle for years.
The four-time IndyCar champion, who also won this year’s Indy 500 has been described in the High Court as “IndyCar’s Messi”, but claimed that he is not even among the best-paid drivers in the series as a result of the $20.7m (£15.43m) case brought by McLaren.
While the court has heard that his team, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), has agreed to cover the costs of the case and any damages, Palou said that he was effectively repaying the team by taking a reduced salary, and would have to continue to do so for seasons to come.
The Spaniard signed a contract to join McLaren for the 2023 season, a move that was then deferred to 2024. But he opted to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing and admits reneging on a deal with McLaren.
He claims that he did so because McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown failed to deliver on promised opportunities with its Formula 1 team, including multiple free practice sessions in its car during grand prix weekends. He is contesting the level of damages claimed.
The best driver in IndyCar but Palou says he’s not among the highest earners
IndyCar
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who gave evidence earlier this week, and denied “stringing along” Palou in his bid to secure an F1 seat, watched the IndyCar driver give evidence, 24 hours after celebrating McLaren’s 2025 constructors’ world championship at the team’s Woking base.
Speaking in a courtroom packed with lawyers on both sides, Palou detailed the financial impact he says that the case has had, despite the indemnity his team has agreed.
“As we have seen the big numbers that have been claimed in this matter is something that I do not have as a person, as a driver,” he said. “There is no way I would have had the amount of money and expenses just to be here today.
“Zak Brown wanted to get an IndyCar driver into Formula 1 and be successful”
“Although there is that indemnity, as a driver, I know I am not being paid the amount of other drivers. I am not in the top three of the highest paid drivers and I am not going to be for the foreseeable future… for this indemnity.
“I am going to have to pay for it with my base salary in the future and I am already doing it.”
Palou began giving evidence by saying that he would have been prepared to give up a full-time IndyCar seat entirely to become a Formula 1 reserve driver and follow “his dream” to try and race in Formula 1.
Under cross-examination from McLaren’s lawyer Paul Goulding KC, he claimed that the team’s initial offer for the 2023 season included multiple opportunities to prove his worth as a Formula 1 driver, and that Brown wanted Palou to follow in the footsteps of Mario Andretti who won championships on both sides of the Atlantic.
Brown and McLaren are claiming $20.7m from Palou
McLaren
“He wanted to get an IndyCar driver into Formula 1 and be successful,” said Palou. “That is something that had been done a long time ago with Mario Andretti.
“He was a big fan of IndyCar and motor sports. It’s the only team in the IndyCar series that has the ability to take a driver from IndyCar and put them into Formula 1. That is what he told me the idea was.”
“It was all referenced in the F1 contract. If you see the salary, it is the salary for the first season. The season here was going to be doing F1 testing, F1 reserve. Then, in the following years, it says, ‘In case the F1 option was not done’.”
Palou said that the language showed that the “primary idea” was to move to F1. It was “what I understood. That would be the goal.”
Soon after signing the first contract with McLaren in mid-2022, Oscar Piastri announced that he would be leaving Alpine, and it became clear McLaren was to be his destination. Palou said that his feelings about his own move then changed – and that Brown had to reassure him his F1 opportunity was not in jeopardy.