McLaren's massive $20MILLION lawsuit against racing superstar begins in London court

The protracted legal battle between McLaren and IndyCar champion Alex Palou finally made its way to court on Monday, nearly two years after the team announced their intention to sue.

The Spanish star had agreed a deal in late 2022 to leave Chip Ganassi Racing and drive for McLaren's nascent IndyCar team from 2024-26, but backed out of that deal – and has himself admitted breaching his contract – to remain with Chip Ganassi, where he has won the last three IndyCar titles.

He admitted during his championship speech this year 'I [made] some really bad decisions, and I was a little bit of an idiot', but his lawyers are claiming that McLaren's claim for losses – $19.7 million to cover lost sponsorships and the cost of other drivers' salaries – is hugely overinflated.

In the filings, McLaren claim that Palou's contract breach meant they had to increase Pato O’Ward's salary by $5.1 million from 2024-27 to keep him as an 'A-level' driver and F1 reserve as a condition of their own partnership with Chevrolet, and lost over $20 million as part of a sponsorship deal for their IndyCar and F1 teams which was based around Palou, and had to be reworked when he backed out.

Palou looking forward to legal drama ending

Palou spoke to Fox Sports about the case finally reaching trial, saying: "It’s about time, right? It's good that it's going to end this year. And I obviously don't know how everything is going to play out or how it's going to go.

"It’s my first time [in court], so you don't really know what to expect. But I'm happy that it'll be the first Christmas in a long time that it's been [without this drama]."

He also admitted that the push and pull between Ganassi and McLaren had impacted him on track, saying: "The first year in ’22 … that was really, really bad getting on track and more in my mind.

"It’s been so long now that I think I've been able to just get it on the side and, as you say, and not worry. Well, worry but not be overthinking and just let my team figure it out."

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