Palou saga BLAMED by Brown for Arrow McLaren's 'difficult' IndyCar reputation

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has blamed Alex Palou's transfer saga for the 'unfair' reputation his team has acquired in IndyCar.

Last August, Palou walked back on the deal he had signed with Arrow McLaren for 2024 to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing.

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This led McLaren to file a $23 million lawsuit against the two-time IndyCar champion, claiming damages relating to sponsorship losses, expenses for his expected role as an F1 reserve driver, the driver's development, and a salary advance.

In November, Palou admitted that he breached the contract, though the court case continues.

Zak Brown blames Palou fiasco for reputation

Since losing out on Palou, the driver door at McLaren has been readily revolving, with the arrivals and exits - and sometimes both - of Felix Rosenqvist, David Malukas, Nolan Siegel, Callum Ilott, Theo Pourchaire, and Alexander Rossi.

Pourchaire's saga was the latest to hit the headlines, the F2 champion surprisingly dropped from the IndyCar outfit in June.

With the series of changes, Arrow McLaren have not appeared as the ideal destination to some, something Brown has disputed.

“It’s been disappointing and I understand it, it’s part of being high-profile as a team,” Brown told Motorsport.com. “I think we’ve got an unfair branding around this driver situation, and then you have some of the drivers that chime in.

“I know everyone likes to take a poke; I certainly like to take a poke. So, if you’re going to poke, you’ve got to be able to take it back.

“But we brought Pato (O’Ward) into this sport, I’ve stuck with him. Alex Palou, we had a contract, we did our part. That created this domino effect."

Brown added that he believed the legal process regarding Palou would be 'going the distance' and expected an outcome 'late next year'.

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Continuing on the issue of driver moves, he said: “Alex (Rossi) saw through his contract. We’re giving Nolan a chance, a young American. We brought back Theo for (Toronto, to replace the injured Rossi).

“And so, unfortunately, this Palou situation has kind of unfairly branded us as being difficult and ‘we’re tough on drivers’ when, actually, I think our relationship with our drivers is one of our greatest strengths.”

A major part of the Palou deal was his role as an F1 driver, though the Spaniard claimed he lost confidence in his path to F1, which contributed to him staying with Ganassi. Brown pointed to his F1 relationships as evidence of McLaren's environment: “With Carlos Sainz, we had an unbelievable relationship. Fernando Alonso, a great relationship, and with Daniel Ricciardo too.

“Our relationship with Lando, he’s been with us for six years. So, I actually quite pride myself and McLaren for the relationships that we have with drivers that drive for us currently and have driven for us in the past.”

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