Palou contends he's racing for McLaren in 2023; Ganassi says that Palou is under contract with Chip Ganassi Racing next year.
- Earlier this month on July 12, IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi announced he had picked up the option year on Alex Palou’s contract.
- The contract, according to Ganassi, would keep Palou with Chip Ganassi Racing through the 2023 season.
- Zak Brown, owner of McLaren Indy and McLaren Racing and co-owner of Arrow McLaren SP, says he has signed Palou to race for his team next year.
The Chip Ganassi and Alex Palou IndyCar saga just got a lot uglier.
The lawyers are now involved.
First reported by the Indianapolis Star, Chip Ganassi Racing has filed suit in Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis against Palou, the defending IndyCar Series champion, and his affiliated ALPA Racing.
While the Star’s story does not say so, it’s likely the lawsuit is at least partly for breach of contract. Earlier this month on July 12, Ganassi announced he had picked up the option year on Palou’s contract, keeping him with CGR through the 2023 season.
Several hours after the Ganassi camp released a statement to that effect, including a quote that was attributed to him but that Palou subsequently claimed he never said, McLaren Indy and McLaren Racing issued its own statement that it had signed Palou to race for it—although not saying publicly whether it would be in IndyCar, Formula 1 or another series such as Formula E—for 2023.
Alex Palou, left, and team owner Chip Ganassi, right, combined to win an IndyCar championship in 2021.
Icon SportswireGetty Images
While McLaren has been relatively quiet about the whole incident, CGR issued this statement Wednesday:
“Alex Palou is under contract with Chip Ganassi Racing through the end of the 2023 season. He is a valued member of our team, and we will continue to support him in chasing wins, podiums, and IndyCar championships.
“As the result of a competing racing team improperly attempting to contract with him notwithstanding the clear terms of our contract, we are proceeding to legal process pursuant to the contract. Any and all inquiries on the matter will be handled by our legal counsel.”
Zak Brown, owner of McLaren Indy and McLaren Racing and co-owner of Arrow McLaren SP, has had little to say about the whole imbroglio.
However, he did tell IndyStar exclusively in Toronto nearly two weeks ago, “All I can do is confirm that I’ve signed (Alex) on a multi-year deal, and I’ve been told by his management team he’s free and clear to do so.
“Obviously, I’m well aware of what’s been announced, and that’s contrary to what I’ve been told—but that’s really something for them (Palou, his management team and CGR) to figure out.”
Palou’s management firm, Monaco Increase Management, declined comment about the suit, IndyStar said.
Summons have reportedly already been served upon Palou, according to IndyStar.
Ganassi is being represented by four attorneys: John Maley, Mark Owens and Dylan Pittman of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, as well as James Voyles of Voyles Vaiana Lukemeyer Baldwin & Webb. Attorneys for Palou/ALPA Racing have been named yet.In the suit filing, Ganassi’s legal team asked that four of seven pieces of evidence, otherwise known as exhibits, be sealed “from public access” because they contained “confidential business information” about the deal between CGR and Palou.
Since the news about the contract dispute first broke, Palou’s performance has waned somewhat, finishing sixth at Toronto and the first race of this past weekend’s doubleheader at Iowa, followed by a 13th-place finish at Iowa in the second half of the twinbill.
McLaren Racing’s Zak Brown believes Alex Palou will be part of his team in 2023.
Clive MasonGetty Images
In the race prior to Toronto, Palou—who remains uncharacteristically winless thus far this season—tied his highest finish (second place) of the season for the third time, at Mid-Ohio.
CGR’s attorneys have asked for a hearing on its motion for a preliminary injunction within the next two to four weeks that could stop Palou from jumping off the CGR ship. The current season finale is September 11 at Laguna Seca near Monterrey, California.
It would appear Ganassi could be operating from a position of advantage over Palou, asking the court to intervene on whether the option year on Palou’s contract can be enforced.
But there are other potential outcomes, particularly if the court rules in Ganassi’s favor, including Ganassi going so far as to park Palou for all of 2023, and although unlikely, parking Palou for perhaps some or all of the five remaining races of the current season.
If the latter were to occur, it would likely deprive Palou of a potential second straight IndyCar championship. But on the flip side of that, it’s unclear whether Palou’s primary sponsor NTT Data, which is also the primary sponsor of the overall IndyCar Series, could bring about legal action of its own against Ganassi for violating the sponsorship contract by parking Palou or potentially against Palou for failing to honor his contract with the team, if the court finds in CGR’s favor.
Palou, driver of the No. 10 NTT Data Honda, is currently sixth in the IndyCar standings, 44 points behind CGR teammate and Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson.
“It’s messy, and I don’t like that kind of stuff.”
CGR has already taken a slight bite out of Palou, so to speak, taking away his access to team engineering data while away from the track. While that seems a major step, it really isn’t per se, as other drivers over the years who have indicated they would be leaving their present team at the end of the same season, have also had their off-track access to similar data taken away.
“I’m just going to let my people work this out,” Palou told IndyStar. “It’s something I don’t really know how to do. It’s messy, and I don’t like that kind of stuff. Instead of trying to understand what’s going on and trying to do everything perfectly, I’m going to try and do everything perfectly on-track and let my people sort it out.”
Felix Rosenqvist, one of Palou’s potential new teammates if he somehow still winds up racing for McLaren in 2023, told IndyStar: “I don’t know what’s going on there, but at the moment, it doesn’t sound like (Palou’s) going to race at all (next year). Yeah, it’ll be up to the lawyers.”
Former IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe, now an analyst on IndyCar telecasts for NBC, said on last week’s episode of the Brick-By-Brick podcast, “I have no idea how this plays out. But I can guarantee it won’t be quick, and I can guarantee it won’t be clean.”
Six-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon, who is currently tied for third in the standings with Josef Newgarden, each 34 points behind Ericsson, told IndyStar two weeks ago in Toronto that he would have done things differently, essentially avoiding the situation his CGR teammate Palou has gotten himself into.
“I was just really disappointed in how it was handled,” Dixon told IndyStar. “For me, honesty is key, man. Loyalty is as well, but this is a small community, and it can change how you’re looked upon or respected quite quickly. My personal view from myself and how I would’ve done this? It wouldn’t have looked like this.”
Dixon isn’t the only one who is thinking that way. Recently, IndyStar quoted a current IndyCar team owner anonymously who said bluntly about Palou, “I just hope he’s not (expletive)-ing up his career.”
Keyword: Getting Ugly: Chip Ganassi Files Lawsuit Against IndyCar Champion Alex Palou