Alex Palou’s lawyer alleges that Chip Ganassi is being a hindrance for an ‘F1 opportunity’

Alex Palou’s lawyer alleges that Chip Ganassi is being a hindrance for an ‘F1 opportunity’

Alex Palou

Alex Palou is certain he will be working with the McLaren team next season, and his lawyer claims Chip Ganassi is trying to prevent him from having the chance to race in Formula 1. In an intriguing omission from the press release, McLaren confirmed earlier this month that they had recruited the current IndyCar champion to the team.

As part of the Testing of Previous Cars programme, McLaren CEO Zak Brown did state that he was looking forward to seeing Alex Palou get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. But it was obvious almost away that Palou’s transition to McLaren would not be easy, given his current IndyCar team Ganassi had officially announced hours before the McLaren revelation that they had exercised their option on the driver for 2023.

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Palou denied this, insisting that he was headed to McLaren. Since then, Ganassi has filed a lawsuit against the driver, claiming that they are advancing to judicial proceedings in accordance with the contract because a competitor racing team unjustly attempted to deal with him irrespective of the explicit conditions of their contract.

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Alex Palou’s lawyer hits back at Chip Ganassi

Alex Palou
Alex Palou

“We are disappointed that Chip Ganassi Racing would attempt to keep Alex from an opportunity to compete in Formula 1, and even more so with CGR’s public court filings and continued commentary to the press on this matter,” said the Spanish driver’s lawyer Rachel E. Epstein.

Palou is certain that he will be a McLaren driver for the upcoming season. “I’ll be in the family, yeah. I have people that have been around me for a long time. And I know they care about me, and they’ll do everything that is best for me and my interest and for my career. To be honest, I was ready for it. I think everything exploded before Toronto and from that moment, I knew it was going to come,” said Palou in reference to the embroiling dispute.

Palou is anticipated to compete for their IndyCar team next season, even if McLaren didn’t explicitly address it considering that their F1 lineup is complete. Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo both have agreements through 2023, and the under-fire Australian driver is convinced that he won’t be leaving.

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