McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed that he is personally disappointed with the manner in which Alex Palou has backed out of a contract to drive for the team next season.
Palou’s management informed McLaren a couple weeks ago that the driver no longer intends to honor agreements regarding his services for the 2024 season.
That decision has led to a lawsuit against the Spaniard, with the team intending to recoup costs related to his development and advance salary payments that were already distributed.
While in The Netherlands with his Formula 1 team for the Dutch GP race weekend, Brown said that he and the team were ‘let down’ by the way Palou ended their relationship.
“Very disappointing, we had a very good relationship,” said Brown. “[Palou] hasn’t personally communicated with me about it, which is rather disappointing, given all that we’ve done for him and the opportunities that we have provided.
“I don’t think his decision has anything to do with McLaren per se, our relationship was very strong. It’s disappointing how it’s been handled on a personal level.
“I think all our relationships with our drivers are something McLaren take very seriously, I think we do a good job of creating a family environment for our drivers. So to be let down, especially in that manner, is pretty disappointing.
“Alex is obviously a very talented driver. We had him in our car a handful [of times]. I think whether it’s Alex or any other driver, to be a Formula 1 driver, you have to have the pace, but you also have to have the mental ability, if you like, in Formula 1. There’s so much you have to do as a driver to be a complete driver.
“Alex has demonstrated in IndyCar and his time with us he is a complete racing driver, but we’ll never find out.”
Palou has been working with McLaren for the past year, serving as the team’s F1 reserve driver while still competing in IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing.
That agreement was worked out via a separate lawsuit at the end of last year, which was brought when Palou attempted to walk away from agreements he had with Ganassi for the 2023 season.
The 26-year-old has been given a lot of development resources, including track time in McLaren F1 machinery, all provided under the pretense that he would be driving for the team next year.
“Alex informed us that he has no intention of honoring his contract with us in IndyCar or in Formula 1,” continued Brown.
“We have a contract, so it’s now in the legal process we filed in London courts last week against him both as a person and his business entity, and we’ll just let the legal proceedings carry the situation forward.
“We have a few reserve drivers. Obviously last year we ran Pato [O’Ward] and Alex, so working with Andrea [Stella] to decide, as it’ll be towards the end of the year.
“So we have some time to decide who we’re going to put in the car for the free practice one and young driver test. For the moment it’s business as usual.”
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