Breaking: McLaren handed multi-million dollar payout after court fight with former driver

McLaren has been handed a multi-million dollar payout by the UK high court after a trial involving IndyCar star Alex Palou. 

McLaren was suing Palou for nearly $20 million after he breached his contract in 2023 to join McLaren's IndyCar team and the F1 programme as a test and reserve driver.

Palou, who admitted the breach, said he had done so on the back of broken promises after believing he was being readied for an F1 race seat, as soon as 2024, but after he realised this was not the case, backed out and signed a new deal with Chip Ganassi Racing. 

The trial in London's High Court took place in October 2025, with Palou and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown among those to give evidence, with Brown's cross-examination by Palou's KC, Nick de Marco, being particularly tense after an exchange about disappearing messages on WhatsApp, although RacingNews365, who was in attendance, understands nothing sensitive was deleted by Brown. 

McLaren was suing Palou for lost monies in both IndyCar and F1, but Mr Justice Picken has dismissed the case against the four-time champion in respect to F1 in its entirety, meaning he does not owe anything.

However, in terms of IndyCar, Palou and his ALPA Racing management company owe McLaren $1,312,500 for driver salary, $5,382,344 for the 2024-2026 seasons, and $950,000 for the 2027 season.

A bonus of $500,000 from General Motors to McLaren for running a high-calibre driver must also be paid, along with a loss of revenue claim for the amount of US$2.05 million.

This gives a total of $10,194,844 with a further sum of between $2 million and $2.5 million to be decided in respect of another sponsor claim. 

This could push the total award to McLaren up to $12.6 million USD, or £9.3 million from the $20 million it was originally seeking. 

The full verdict from Mr Justice Picken is available to read here.