A composite image of Zak Brown and Alex Palou — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown in court as part of Alex Palou legal case

Zak Brown appeared in court last week

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 11 October 2025 17:17

Just days after McLaren's F1 constructors' championship win, Zak Brown was in court in the UK as part of a legal battle involving IndyCar superstar Alex Palou.

McLaren celebrated championship success in Singapore last weekend, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris' results enough to confirm them as champions with six race weekends remaining.

But it was a former McLaren star who was taking up Brown's time following that success, with the American appearing in court as part of a legal claim being made by McLaren against Palou, who opted to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the 2023 season, rather than join McLaren.

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In 2022, an agreement had been reached between the three parties that Palou could stay with Chip Ganassi in IndyCar for 2023 despite contradicting statements from both teams, but that he would become a part of McLaren's talent pool and join the team for 2024.

Brown alleges that Palou then told him that he had 'no intention of honouring his contract', and opted to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing instead, where he has won four of the last five IndyCar championships.

The court case commenced last week, with Brown giving his side of the story earlier this week, with courtroom sketches depicting the high-profile motorsport lawsuit.

Palou's career

Despite the very public falling out with McLaren, Palou did get some experience in an F1 car, including in an official timed session.

Palou took part in FP1 at the 2022 United States GP for McLaren, and also took to the track several times in tests, as part of the testing of previous cars programme.

As well as being a four-time IndyCar champion, Palou also raced in F3, F2, Super GT and Super Formula during his early days as a racer.

He is now 28 years old, and has admitted that he believes his chances of breaking into F1 now to be slim, despite rumours earlier this year linking him with a move to Red Bull.

Those rumours were strongly denied by both Palou and Red Bull themselves.

McLaren IndyCar Zak Brown Alex Palou