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Alex Palou Furious After McLaren Chose Oscar Piastri for F1

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Samriddhi Jaiswal | Last updated Oct 10, 2025 3:49 AM ET

Highlights:

Palou told the High Court he felt “upset, worried and angry” affter McLaren picked Piastri.
The IndyCar champion says he was promised a pathway to F1.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown denies ever guaranteeing Palou an F1 seat.

Alex Palou’s rise through motorsport had been swift from IndyCar champion to McLaren test driver but his hopes of racing in F1 came to an abrupt halt. During his High Court testimony this week, the Spaniard revealed how devastated he was when McLaren signed rookie Oscar Piastri in September 2022, closing the door on his F1 ambitions.

“I was very upset, worried and angry that McLaren has signed another rooie driver other than me,” Palau said(as reported by Motorsport Magazine). He had joined McLaren’s roster in the belief that he was being groomed for an eventual race seat, only to watch the team’ opportunity vanish overnight.

Palau and his management companies are now being sued for $20.7 million by McLaren after he walked away from his IndyCar deal with the team.

Promises and Broken Trust

Palou said that his decision to back away from McLaren came after realizing he had little chance of progressing into its F1 outsit. He testified that McLaren CEO Zak Brown has told him he’d get “a chance” in F1 and that the team would prepare him for a seat.

“When testing with McLaren, Zak told me he believed we could make it happen and that he would give me all the preparation I needed to get to F1,” he explained. “At the time I thought he was genuine.”

The 2021 IndyCar champion says his faith began to fade after Piastri was signed to partner Lando Norris for 2023. During a meeting near McLaren’s Technology Centre in Surrey, Brown allegedly told him the decision came from team principal Andreas Seidl, not himself.

“Zak said Piastri’s performance would be evaluated against mine for 2024,” Palau recalled. “However, I knew everything had changed.”

A Lost Opportunity and F1’s Harsh Reality

Palou later tried to pursue other F1 options. He even contacted Helmut Marko of Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, who was open to discussions until Brown reportedly got involved.

“Zak had directly called Helmut, and apparently Helmut told Zak he was not interested anymore,” Palau said. “For sure it didn’t help because suddenly Helmut was not interested anymore.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, meanwhile, has denied making any promises, saying he only outlined “possible opportunities” in F1.

With McLaren accusing him of leaving the team in “crisis mode” and Palou countering with claims of broken faith, the case has exposed the fragile intersection of ambition, loyalty, and corporate politics in motorsport’s top ranks.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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