Sources from McLaren has confirmed that Alex Palou has decided against joining McLaren for the 2024 Indycar season.
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Alex Palou has apparently decided not to join McLaren for the 2024 Indycar season. In what would seem to be a sudden change of heart the Indycar Championship leader will now not switch to McLaren as he focuses his efforts on a Formula 1 drive for 2024.
This is an added twist to an already protracted saga, when Palou announced during the 2022 season that he would not drive for Chip Ganassi Racing for 2023, after much discussions and threatened court action, McLaren, Chip Ganassi and Palou were able to come to a compromise that would allow Palou to join McLaren for 2024 but continue with Chip Ganassi for 2023.
Agreements were also made to allow Alex Palou to join the McLaren Formula 1 team foe testing during the 2023 season.
Change of Heart
It would seem that Alex has had a change of heart and decided that he would not honour the 2024 deal with McLaren, with the driver possibly staying with Chip Ganassi or looking for opportunities in Formula 1.
The Fallout and the after effects
The news of Alex’s change of heart broke after Associated Press obtained a letter reportedly from Zak Brown to McLaren’s employees confirming that “Alex Palou has no intention of honouring his contract with our Arrow McLaren Indycar team for 2024 and beyond.
Zak Brown issued a statement to the Race.com
I’m extremely disappointed that Alex does not intend to honour his contractual obligations to race with us in Indycar in 2024 and beyond. That is all i have to say on this topic for the time being.
Zak Brown, McLaren CEO on Alex Palou not joining Arrow McLaren for 2024 (Source: the-race.com)
Another reason for the reaction form McLaren is due to the commitment and investment they have shown towards Palou, with Formula 1 practice sessions lined up at the end of the Indycar season, along with a testing program in an old spec Formula 1 car.
This news will have a ripple effect on the Indycar silly season with several drivers looking at their options. It will be interesting to see where McLaren will go for the 2024 season.