Palou Announces McLaren Signing for 2023; Ganassi Announces Extension

Alex Palou has signed with McLaren Racing for 2023, presumably for IndyCar, although McLaren has not specified this. This came as a shock Tuesday night to almost all of the racing world, and in clear contradiction to what we had just been told. Only hours before the announcement from McLaren and Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that they had picked up Palou’s option for 2023, before a shocking rebuttal from Palou himself. In a series of tweets posted Tuesday night, Palou stated that he had already informed CGR of his intention to leave, and that he in fact did not give the quote that was attributed to him by CGR in their press release, in the tweet linked below. Numerous media outlets had reported on this, and Chip himself had confirmed this to them.

Reports had floated around during Indy 500 practice week that Palou was going to McLaren, but they were shut down by both Ganassi and Palou, which made the announcement of his departure even more shocking. Palou was quoted as saying that “I’m happy where I am, and just because somebody is interested doesn’t mean that I’m actively looking for a place for the future.” Both Ganassi’s announcement and Palou’s rebuttal/McLaren announcement can be seen above and below respectively.

The main takeaway is that Palou is under contract through 2023 to drive for CGR, and McLaren has signed him to a deal to drive in 2023. Obviously the math doesn’t work there, and there is almost certainly a buyout clause for Palou to get out. The real missing puzzle piece, which I suspect will be answered before the weekend is up, is why the buyout wasn’t agreed upon and paid before all of this went public. There’s no chance that this is the preferred method for any of the involved parties and espeically not CGR, who has come out looking like the bad guy here. That perception is not helped by Palou stating that he actually didn’t say the quote that was attributed to him, which is a real PR blunder by a team that is usually very buttoned up and professional. Late Tuesday night, a Ganassi team official reconfirmed after the Palou/McLaren announcement that they had picked up Alex Palou’s option for 2023, so there is some clarity that can be provided. Ganassi’s public announcement means that whatever the terms of Palou’s release from his CGR contract were, either Palou, McLaren, or possibly both were unable or unwilling to agree to it. So while this is sorted between teams, Palou will finish out the year in the no. 10 car for CGR. One of the more confusing aspects is the defending champion’s choice to leave the team that just won a title, and has him 4th in points this year, and go to a team that hasn’t really proven it can successfully run more than one car, let alone three. It’s certainly not an upward move, and I wouldn’t even term it a lateral move, so what inspired the move? The same carrot that Zak Brown has dangled in front of every young IndyCar driver, F1. As McLaren starts its Formula E team, they have 7 available slots. Pato, Lando, and Rossi are confirmed, with two IndyCar seats and two FE seats open, and most likely Ricciardo’s seat as well.

As McLaren stated upon Rosenqvist’s signing, they haven’t confirmed a lineup yet, but I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a return to Europe in either FE or F1 promised to Palou. Palou does have an FIA superlicense after winning the IndyCar title, and experience on most of the F1 tracks. More information will leak as the paddock heads to Toronto, but for now this is all we know.