F1 hopeful told he has ruined his chances as McLaren open up on court battle
Zak Brown cast doubt on Alex Palou's Formula 1 future after the IndyCar star told McLaren he has no intention of honouring his contracts with the company.
Palou is a reserve driver for McLaren's F1 team. And he also signed a contract to race for their IndyCar outfit from next season, having failed to make the move from Chip Ganassi Racing last year.
But the Spaniard, who is gunning for his second IndyCar title this year, told McLaren earlier this month that he has no intention of honouring those contracts. Chief executive Brown communicated that to staff at Indianapolis, in a message which was leaked publicly.
Speaking to reporters, including Mirror Sport, at Zandvoort on Saturday, Brown fielded several questions on the subject. He said: "Alex informed us that he has no intention of honouring his contract with us, in IndyCar or Formula 1. We have a contract, so there's now a legal process we filed in the London courts against him last week, both as a person and his business entity. We'll let the legal proceedings carry the situation forward.
"We had a very good relationship. He hasn't personally communicated with me about it, which is rather disappointing given all that we have done for him and the opportunities we have provided. I don't think his decision has anything to do with McLaren per se, our relationship was very strong.
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"So I'm disappointed with how Alex has handled it on a personal level. Our relationship with our drivers is something McLaren takes very seriously and I think we do a good job of creating a family environment for our drivers. So to be let down in that manner is pretty disappointing."
McLaren chief Zak Brown shared his disappointment over Alex Palou's conduct (Getty Images)Brown went on to suggest that, without his McLaren links, Palou will no find it difficult to realise his F1 dream, and used Daniel Ricciardo's crash in practice on Friday to illustrate his point. The American said: "He's demonstrated in IndyCar and with us that he's a complete racing driver, but I'm not sure we'll ever find out.
"I have no idea what's going through his mind because I've not spoken to him. Things move fast in Formula 1 – drivers can break their wrist in an instant. I think, if you want to do Formula 1, you need to hang around the hoop and see what opportunities arise.
"Nyck de Vries wasn't on anybody's radar and then after one race, next thing you know he has a Formula 1 seat. I don't know what's in [Palou's] mind, but hanging around the hoop and being in a Formula 1 environment, to me, seems to give you the best opportunity to become a Formula 1 driver."
McLaren still have another IndyCar racer, Pato O'Ward, as a reserve driver, while an agreement with Mercedes would allow them to call up Mick Schumacher if they needed a stand-in at short notice. American Colton Herta has also tested an F1 car for the team in recent times.
They may be in line for FP1 sessions later this season but, as Brown pointed out, their chances of graduation to a race seat with McLaren are extremely slim given Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are both young and extremely quick.
He said: "Colton and Pato need to have their superlicence and, at the moment with the way the current system works, their chances of getting a superlicence are unfortunately going backwards.
"Pato is someone who will be in the car later this year and has done a job for us, so he's certainly someone that's a focus. That being said, we're talking about reserve drivers and testing, because what is most important for us is our current driver line-up and both drivers are doing an excellent job."
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