IndyCar star Alex Palou is being courted by four F1 teams for a possible entry into the premier class in 2024: Reports
Alex Palou might be on his way to Formula One after his unbelievable first season in IndyCar.
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Alex Palou, the 2021 IndyCar Championship title-holder as well as McLaren F1’s current reserve driver, is rumoured to hold the key to Formula 1’s silly season ahead of the 2024 campaign. With three victories in eight races, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has emerged as the IndyCar championship’s standout performance, pulling ahead of Marcus Ericsson, a former F1 driver, by 74 points. It may have been different, though, as Arrow McLaren got into a legal dispute when they announced Palou for the 2023 IndyCar season, going to the court against Ganassi over the driver’s services, and the latter team ultimately won the lawsuit.
Before McLaren had announced Oscar Piastri as their recruit for the 2023 season, there were a lot of conversations about Palou entering the F1 scene with the papaya squad. Despite the fact that he is believed to have a contract with McLaren for the 2024 season, albeit one for IndyCar rather than F1, he is now being linked to other Formula 1 teams for a potential entry into the king class of motorsports.
Palou’s Monaco-based management team has been making a full-court press to try and find a ride for the 26-year-old Spaniard for the 2024 F1 campaign. Alex Palou is available for an F1 seat if Franz Tost (AlphaTauri), James Vowles (Williams), Guenther Steiner (Haas), or Alessandro Alunni Bravi (Alfa Romeo) go looking for a driver to replace their current recruits. Given Palou’s formidable resume with an IndyCar championship win in his first season with a top team and most probably a second win this year as well, it looks like Alex Palou’s F1 entry chances are quite high.
Alex Palou: The next driver on the F1 grid
According to the reports, the verdict on Alex Palou says, “the clock is ticking, with an all-important end of July deadline that has to play out. Until that happens, IndyCar’s soon-to-be-chaotic silly season market, even at the top of the grid, cannot get underway.’’ In order to convince the 26-year-old against making a switch to McLaren in IndyCar, Chip Ganassi Racing allegedly offered him a “$4 million per year” contract. However, it appears that Ganassi’s biggest danger may come from F1 and not McLaren.
The reason for the hurry to take up Palou ar McLaren is believed to be because of a provision in Palou’s contract with the British team that allows him to leave them if he finds another F1 chance by the end of July. There are vacancies at Alfa Romeo, Haas, Williams, and AlphaTauri; the latter two are filled by Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri and Logan Sargeant at Williams. Palou has yet to comment on his 2024 intentions or expectations, so it is unclear if he would want to swap winning IndyCar races for occasionally earning points in F1.
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Riddhi Mondal
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