New leap in the race Álex Palou. The 25-year-old Spanish driver, IndyCar champion last season, has been signed by the team McLarenwhich will join his team next season, is supposed to continue competing in IndyCar, and will give him a test program with the Formula 1 team car with the McLaren MCL35, this season’s car.
Palou, fourth in the IndyCar this season, became the first Spanish champion in the most important category of motorsport last year, in addition to coming close to victory in the Indianapolis 500his most emblematic test, where he crossed the finish line in second position.
Palou joins a team that has another of the great promises of IndyCar on its staff, the Mexican Pato O’Ward, who has already tested the McLaren F1 this season. The American also belongs to that test team Colton Heartanother of Indy’s rising stars, who races for Andretti Motorsport.
“We have always said that we want the best talent at McLaren and it is exciting to be able to include Alex on that list. I am also very much looking forward to seeing him get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car,” Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, revealed in the official statement.
For his part, Palou pointed out how happy he was to join McLaren, and also highlighted the possibility of getting into an F1 car: “I am excited to be able to show what I can do with that wheel and see what doors can be opened” .
Mess with Chip Ganassi
The official announcement of Palou’s signing with McLaren came just a few hours after his current team, Chip Ganassi Racing, issued another statement announcing the renewal of the Spaniard for next season. The American team signed a two-year contract with the Barcelona driver, with the option of extending it until 2023. Apparently, Chip Ganassi decided to make that option effective without Palou’s consent, with the aggravating circumstance of including statements from the driver giving the go-ahead to the agreement.
Palou was forced to react on his social networks to deny the agreement with Chip Ganassi and confirm his signing by McLaren: «Chip Ganassi released the press release without my approval, and what is more surprising, with some statements that I have not made . I do not approve of that statement and I am not the author of the phrases attributed to me. As I recently informed the Chip Ganassi team, for personal reasons it was my intention not to continue after 2022. Despite this unfortunate event, I have great respect for Chip Ganassi and am looking forward to finishing the season stronger alongside them. ».
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