IndyCar’s silly season was relatively quiet, until Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren blew it wide open 💥 ✍️ DavidMalsher looks into what happened and how it affects the driver market ⬇️
Moments after that little ‘WTF?!’ came McLaren’s release that Palou had joined the team “family”, and that he will be sharing an F1 test programme with fellow IndyCar drivers Pato O’Ward – already an Arrow McLaren SP driver – and Colton Herta, who just ran a two-day evaluation test at Portimao in last year’s McLaren.
One of the crucial questions is whether Palou’s current contract with Ganassi states that he cannot negotiate specifically with another IndyCar team. If so, that would suggest that McLaren and Palou have abided by the letter of the law: Palou’s initial public welcome on Tuesday came from the Woking wizards, McLaren Racing ‘as a whole’, and not specifically from the Arrow McLaren SP team
Soon, because he is who he is, Chip finds out about this talk and is understandably furious. Palou’s contract supposedly prevents him talking to rival teams at this point, let alone reaching a verbal agreement. He’s on a two-year-plus-option deal, and until a new contract is drawn up or Chip does or doesn’t take up the option, Palou isn’t at liberty to negotiate with others. Certainly not in April of the second year.
How much of what’s described in the previous four paragraphs is true? How much of it is gossip and exaggeration? Toward the end of last month, I had an off-the-record conversation with Palou, spouting forth my theory, asking him if he could confirm or deny some version of that had taken place and that he was on the cusp of leaving Ganassi. He listened, smiled, laughed, and convincingly persuaded me it was largely wrong, he was happy where he was.Photo by: Geoffrey M.
Palou’s decision to depart the team that turned him into an IndyCar race-winner and title-winner has been acrimonious enough that it’s not unreasonable to ask why he would so readily burn his bridges. Think of the stark contrast with Ryan Briscoe who was dropped by Ganassi at the end of his torrid 2005 IRL IndyCar season, yet didn’t whine about it publicly and some eight years later found himself in a one-off Indy 500 entry for Chip.
Palou’s imminent departure also means Ganassi is on the prowl for a new occupant of the #10 car one year earlier than he intended, for even if Chip wins any legal case over the matter, he’s not going to force a win from a driver who is being retained under duress. In which case, Rinus VeeKay may well be the best available option. He has a high degree of raw talent and to the best of Autosport's knowledge, he has not yet inked a deal for a fourth season with Ed Carpenter Racing.
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