McLaren boss tells team IndyCar championship leader Alex Palou has reneged on 2024 contract

Alex Palou has changed his mind — again — and informed McLaren Racing he will not be joining the team at the end of this season.

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 “has no intention of honoring his contract with our Arrow McLaren IndyCar team for the 2024 season and beyond.”

The letter was sent to McLaren employees shortly after Friday's final IndyCar Series on-track session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Palou last July upended the free agent market when he publicly rebuked Chip Ganassi Racing's attempt to pick up the option Ganassi held on him for 2023. Palou said he instead was joining both McLaren's IndyCar program and had a Formula One contract.

Ganassi fought it and the sides settled with Palou remaining in IndyCar with Ganassi this year, but testing as a reserve driver for McLaren on his off weekends. He was slated to join McLaren full-time at the end of this IndyCar season, and was in full McLaren papaya-colored gear at the Miami Grand Prix in May.

Palou is currently closing in on his second IndyCar title in three years driving for Ganassi. The 26-year-old Spaniard is in his fourth season of IndyCar — three with Ganassi — but has long held F1 ambitions.

“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 to his employees.

“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. 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. McLaren currently fields IndyCar teams for Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing