Palou owes McLaren over $12 million for contract breach

I briefly met Álex Palou the day after this ruling came out, and he was funny and relaxed. He was sitting at the Acura activation in the Daytona infield with all of the other Acura GTP drivers, and he was actually the only one acting funny and relaxed. The next day, he was one of the fastest guys in the Rolex 24. So I don’t think losing this case is weighing the guy down; he will soon win his way out of the hole, whether he’s paying out of pocket or Ganassi is covering it.

Regardless, this was a dumb situation, and I’m glad it’s over. You can’t break contracts, but also I would easily believe that Zak Brown or authorized associates gave Palou enough hope about F1 to be described afterwards as “misleading.” It sure is tempting to imagine what the 2025 Formula 1 season would have been like with Lando Norris facing Álex Palou in the other seat. But on the other hand, by staying with Ganassi in IndyCar, Palou has made himself a sort of analogue of Verstappen rather than having to go head-to-head with him.