McLaren has secured a significant victory in its case against IndyCar champion Alex Palou. The London court ruled that the Spaniard owes the F1 team more than $12 million, well over half of the amount originally sought. McLaren sued Palou after he withdrew from a multi‑year contract. The team argued it lost substantial revenue as a result. CEO Zak Brown described the judge’s ruling as ‘entirely justified’.
The situation around Palou and McLaren has been complicated for some time. Mid‑2022 the Spaniard tried to free himself from his IndyCar deal with Chip Ganassi Racing. At the same time McLaren and Formula 1 were keen, but CGR exercised an option to keep him for 2023. The dispute was settled behind closed doors; Palou remained on a one‑year contract, while simultaneously becoming a reserve driver for McLaren in Formula 1. Although McLaren paid him a $400,000 signing bonus in January 2023 for an IndyCar deal, Palou chose not to honour that agreement and instead extended his relationship with CGR.
McLaren then took him to court. Zak Brown made clear Palou had indicated he did not intend to fulfil his obligations in either IndyCar or Formula 1. The team sought substantial damages, made up of signing costs, lost earnings and external income tied to Palou’s testing programme. Palou defended himself by arguing the agreement was conditional on an eventual transfer to Formula 1, but that move was ruled out by the arrival of Oscar Piastri.
Damages
On Friday it emerged that the English court partially sided with McLaren; Palou owes the team $12 million. Zak Brown called the ruling “entirely justified.” “As the ruling shows, we clearly proved that we met every contractual obligation to Alex (Alex Palou) and fully honoured what was agreed,” the American responded. “We are grateful the court recognised the commercial impact of Alex’s breach of contract.”
Palou reacted with disappointment: “The court’s ruling shows that the accusations against me were completely exaggerated. It is disappointing that so much time and money was spent fighting these claims, some of which the court found to be unfounded, simply because I chose not to drive for McLaren after I learned they could not offer me an F1 contract. I regret that McLaren was awarded damages. They did not suffer a loss from what they gained with the driver who replaced me.”
