Álex Palou announced Wednesday that he will be sticking with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2023 IndyCar season, and the team is allowing him to do Formula One testing with McLaren outside of his IndyCar commitments.
On Wednesday, he joined Pato O’Ward to begin F1 testing for the team in Barcelona.
This brings an end to the standoff between the 2021 IndyCar champion, CGR and McLaren Racing that ended up in the court system. It began in mid-July when Chip Ganassi Racing announced they exercised the option to extend his contract. The press release included a quote supposedly from Palou, but he denied that as well as the announcement itself.
“I have recently learned from the media that this afternoon, without my approval, Chip Ganassi Racing issued a press release announcing that I would be driving with CGR in 2023,” Palou said in a Twitter thread on July 12. “Even more surprising was that CGR’s release included a ‘quote’ which did not come from me.
“I did not approve that press release, and I did not author or approve that quote. As I have recently informed CGR, for personal reasons, I do not intend to continue with the team after 2022.
“This evening’s unfortunate events aside, I have great respect for the CGR team, and look forward to finishing this season strongly together.”
Several hours later, McLaren Racing announced Palou would compete for them in 2023, which the 25-year-old confirmed on social media. McLaren, though, recently deleted the tweet announcing Palou’s arrival.
The driver seemed to hint at a possible return to CGR after winning IndyCar’s season finale this past weekend, and McLaren Racing’s CEO Zak Brown didn’t confirm if Palou would fill the third IndyCar seat.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Brown said, per NBC Sports’s Nate Ryan. “What I would say is I’m very happy with Felix [Rosenqvist]. He’s done an excellent job this year. He’s been strong all year. We’ll see how that works out. I’d be very happy to have Felix in our car again. “We need to make a decision, because I think he would be picked up by another (IndyCar) team.”
Brown was then asked if it was likely that Palou’s situation would be resolved in the next three weeks, to which he said, “hard to tell. I’d say the ball’s in Chip’s court.”
McLaren Racing announced its IndyCar lineup for next season, which includes Rosenqvist, O’Ward and Alex Rossi. The team also confirmed that Palou would be a part of its F1 testing program, beginning the same day.
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