Alex Palou speaks out about “genuine” Zak Brown commitment before McLaren signed Oscar Piastri to partner Lando Norris

McLaren is currently suing Alex Palou for $20.7 million in damages for breaking their IndyCar contract and staying at Chip Ganassi Racing. The Spaniard has told London’s High Court that he walked away because the Papaya outfit chose to sign Oscar Piastri instead of offering him a Formula 1 seat.

The legal battle stems from Palou’s decision to withdraw from a multi-year IndyCar contract with McLaren that was due to begin in 2024. Having initially joined their driver pool in 2022, Palou tested the team’s F1 car at the Circuit of the Americas and was understood to be part of the driver development pipeline.

The Woking-based outfit now claims that his U-turn caused “severe disruption” to its IndyCar program and sponsorship commitments. In his witness statement presented to the court, Palou detailed how his discussions with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown began during his first IndyCar title-winning year in 2021.

“The only attraction was to go to F1. My ambition was because it is the biggest single-seater series in the world. When testing with McLaren… Zak told me he believed we could make it happen and that he would give me all the preparation I needed to get to F1. At the time I thought he was genuine.” (Witness statement via Motorsport Magazine)

Alex Palou explained that Brown had personally told him he would be given the tools and testing mileage needed to transition to Formula 1. However, after the team announced Oscar Piastri as Daniel Ricciardo’s replacement for 2023.

“Zak told me it was not his decision to hire Oscar. He said it was the decision of the team manager Andreas Seidl. Zak told me Piastri’s performance would be evaluated against mine for 2024. Zak said that, from his point of view my chance of getting the F1 seat was not affected by Oscar. However, I knew everything had changed. From that point on, I started to be more willing to stay with CGR in the future.”

After that conversation, Palou’s confidence in the project waned. He said he began exploring other F1 options, including informal talks with Red Bull’s Helmut Marko regarding a potential seat at Racing Bulls. However, he claims that once McLaren learned of the contact, Brown personally reached out to Marko, after which the opportunity disappeared.

Palou eventually stayed at Chip Ganassi Racing, winning his third consecutive IndyCar championship and fourth in five years. He maintains that his decision to remain was driven by the clarity that the F1 door he had hoped for at McLaren was never going to open.

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Zak Brown denies destroying evidence as McLaren lawsuit intensifies

(R-L) Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Zak Brown at Circuit Zandvoort. Source: Getty

Zak Brown returned to the witness stand this week amid growing scrutiny over how the team handled internal communications during the Alex Palou dispute. The court was presented with WhatsApp messages indicating that disappearing-message settings were used in conversations between senior staff before Palou’s exit became public.

Palou’s legal counsel, Luca De Marco, directly accused Brown of deliberately erasing evidence to avoid legal exposure.

"You said that because you were keen to destroy evidence related to Palou because you knew he would breach the contract. You have destroyed evidence in this case. You’ve turned on disappearing messages when instructed not to do so, because you were worried what the consequences might be." [via Motorsport]

Brown rejected those claims, stating that McLaren had “no intent” to conceal relevant material and that the messages were part of standard operational practice. He also denied any suggestion that Palou had been “strung along,” reiterating that the Spaniard was informed of the limits of his F1 prospects.

Court filings from McLaren outline how the breach allegedly left its IndyCar operation “in crisis mode”, forcing the team to cycle through a series of replacements, including David Malukas, Callum Ilott, Theo Pourchaire, and, later, Nolan Siegel, who brought $1.25 million in funding to secure a seat. McLaren further argues that its relationship with title sponsor NTT, a major partner in the IndyCar series, suffered due to the uncertainty surrounding the driver lineup.

As the hearing continues, Palou is set to be cross-examined over the next two days.