Alex Palou could not start his own team because he would break his contract with himself and get confused, Will Power has joked.
The runaway IndyCar Series leader is being sued by McLaren after Zak Brown asserted that he “does not intend to honor his contractual obligations to race with us in IndyCar in 2024 and beyond.”
The imbroglio came to light barely more than 12 months after last year’s contract saga, which saw Chip Ganassi Racing take legal action against Palou, became public.
After a period of mediation, he stayed at CGR after all but was allowed to become a McLaren Formula 1 reserve/test driver.
The popular assumption had been that Palou will be off to McLaren at the end of the 2023 IndyCar season, by which time it is highly likely that he will be a two-time champion, before the new twist.
The matter was brought up with Power while he was a guest on the SpeedFreaks show, with the 2018 Indy 500 winner cheekily speculating that Palou might in fact end up at minnow Dale Coyne Racing.
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“Who knows what’s going to happen?” said Power.
“He might just say, ‘Yep, with Ganassi next year,’ and suddenly, boom, ‘No, I’m going to Dale Coyne. Just, I’m sorry, I’ve signed a contract with them.’
“He should just not have a contract because it doesn’t seem to matter.”
When it was put to Power that Palou should start his own, one-car team, the Queenslander raised a potential problem with that idea.
“Yeah, but then he’d dishonour the contract with his own team,” he ventured.
“It’d just be confusing for him.
“He’d just be like, ‘Well I’m not driving for you,’ and he’d be like, ‘Hang on, you are me, so how are you not going to drive? Like, you are me.’
“It’d be very confusing.”
THIS: Will Power on Alex Palou negotiating with Alex Palou. It’s a thing. #IndyCar
Let’s go @WWTRaceway! pic.twitter.com/vDUKcTy50t
— SpeedFreaks (@SpeedFreaks) August 22, 2023
Power described last year’s contract drama as “kind of good for the series, really, to have a bit of action in the paddock,” in comments made shortly after both CGR and McLaren made announcements claiming to have done a deal with the Spaniard.
Chip Ganassi claims that McLaren is “inaccurate and wrong” over its position on Palou’s contract this time around.
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