Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Formula 1, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris
Ben McCrum
IndyCar champion Alex Palou has claimed that McLaren boss Zak Brown never wanted the team to sign Oscar Piastri.
Following the dramatic conclusion to the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, there are now just six race weekends left in the 2025 Formula One calendar.
McLaren star Lando Norris' controversial move on teammate Piastri means that he is now just 22 points behind him at the top of the Drivers' Championship standings.
As it stands, Piastri has a total of 336 points while Norris is in second in the standings with 314 points, with reigning champion Max Verstappen behind on 273 points.
Advert
But, despite the fact that Piastri is the one currently leading the Championship, IndyCar champion Palou has claimed that McLaren chief Brown didn't even want to sign him.
While McLaren's drivers are battling each other on the track, the team itself is currently engaged in a legal battle with their former IndyCar driver Palou.
Palou and his associated management companies are currently being sued for $20.7m (£15.43m) by McLaren for reneging on his IndyCar contract.
When explaining his decision not fulfil his contract, Palou said that his realisation that moving moving from IndyCar to McLaren’s F1 team were slim following Piastri's appointment.
In his witness statement, the Indianapolis 500 winner describes his reaction when Piastri joined McLaren, writing: "I was very upset, worried and angry that McLaren had signed another rookie driver other than me."
But that wasn't all that Palou said, as he has claimed that during meetings with McLaren Racing CEO Brown,
“I went for dinner with Zak at Beaverbook near MTC,” Palou’s witness statement continued.
“Zak told me it was not his decision to hire Oscar. He said it was the decision of the team manager Andreas Seidl.
“Zak told me Piastri’s performance would be evaluated against mine for 2024. Zak said that, from his point of view my chance of getting the F1 seat was not affected by Oscar."
Naturally, Brown denies Palou's claims, writing earlier in the case: “I told him what the opportunities would be in F1,” said Brown. “I never told him he would be under consideration.”
Palou later claimed that he also had conversations with Red Bull executive Helmut Marko in 2023 about potentially joining Alpha Tauri, but it never progressed.
Regardless of the truth in the matter, Palou never got the chance to driver for McLaren, or any other time in F1, and is now driving in IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing.