Alex Palou has consistently indicated this year that his Formula 1 ambitions are over, that he isn’t knocking on any doors.
But that hasn’t stopped the talk, and The Indianapolis Star reported Monday that Red Bull has interest in the four-time INDYCAR champion.
It doesn’t appear that any talks are all that far along, and Palou’s INDYCAR boss Chip Ganassi said Saturday that he is confident Palou enjoys racing in INDYCAR.
“Alex will be the first to tell you he is enjoying himself here,” Ganassi said during the telecast of INDYCAR practice at The Milwaukee Mile. “He likes it. He’s on a long-term contract now. He’s happy. He’s got his family here in Indianapolis.
“He tells me he couldn’t be happier doing what he’s doing, so I take him at his word.”
Red Bull is looking for a teammate to complement Max Verstappen as it has struggled to find a driver who can race the car with a similar setup. Verstappen, who won four consecutive F1 titles from 2021-2024, is third in the current F1 standings.
In the days following his Indianapolis 500 victory, there were plenty of questions of whether the 28-year-old Palou had accomplished everything he wanted to in INDYCAR and whether that would pique his interest in F1.
“I’m perfect here,” he told FOX Sports on his Indy 500 victory media tour when asked about F1. “I’m super happy, the happiest I’ve ever been.
“At the end of the day, that’s what everybody looks for — being happy, winning races, being with my family. Here I just have an environment that it’s perfect.”
Would Alex Palou consider a move to Formula amid his INDYCAR dominance?
Palou nearly went Formula 1 racing with McLaren as he tested an F1 car for the team and signed a contract to move to McLaren as early as 2023, a move that never materialized amid a flurry of lawsuits.
One of those continues, and could cost Palou millions. McLaren sued Palou in 2023 after he decided to stay at Ganassi. They claim approximately $31 million in damages from loss of sponsorships and revenue as well as other costs, including what they spent on Palou testing their F1 car and his simulator time for McLaren.
Palou has admitted he breached his contract with McLaren. The only dispute is how much money he owes with a trial expected in October in England. In court documents, Palou’s response states that the $31 million is “misconceived in a number of respects and vastly overinflated.”
Documents from that case indicate McLaren would have paid Palou a base salary of $3 million a year from 2024-26.
The impacts of the dispute are part of the Palou-F1 discussion on two fronts. The first is whether it has made F1 teams hesitant to pursue him because they don’t want to take the chance with someone who already has backed out of a deal. The other is whether the amount Palou owes McLaren could be so high that it would encourage Palou to make a move to F1, where salaries typically are higher and/or a team that wants him could cover some of those costs.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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