The long-running dispute between McLaren and IndyCar driver Alex Palou reached the UK High Court this week. The Woking-based team is suing Palou for more than $20 million, claiming he broke his contract with them.

The conflict dates back to July 2022, when both Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) and McLaren announced that Palou would be racing for them the following IndyCar season. After months of back-and-forth, a compromise was reached. Palou would stay with Chip Ganassi for 2023 while also working as a test and development driver for McLaren’s Formula 1 team. Under that deal, he was due to join McLaren’s IndyCar outfit in 2024.

However, Palou later decided to stay with Ganassi instead, saying he had lost confidence in McLaren’s ability to secure him a Formula 1 seat.

As the case unfolded in court this week, both sides shared new details about what led to their fallout. Palou claimed that McLaren boss Zak Brown had given him hope of a future in F1, telling the court that Brown had said he would “make it happen” and give him all the preparation needed for a seat.

But Brown has denied promising Palou anything specific, saying he only discussed possible opportunities. When Palou’s lawyers accused him of stringing the Spaniard along, Brown insisted, “I never told him he would be under consideration for 2023. There was some optionality to join F1.”

Palou also described his reaction when McLaren signed Oscar Piastri to replace Daniel Ricciardo for the 2023 season. He said he was “upset, worried and angry” that another rookie had been chosen instead of him, and that despite reassurance from McLaren, he began to doubt that an F1 seat was realistic.

Palou went on to reveal that he had been in talks with AlphaTauri about a potential Formula 1 drive for 2024, but claimed that interest faded after a conversation between Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and Zak Brown.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s legal team has accused Palou of causing major financial and reputational damage by walking away from their agreement. McLaren’s lawyer, Paul Goulding, told the court the team was “plunged into crisis mode” after Palou’s decision, saying sponsors withheld payments and the team was left scrambling to find a replacement driver.

Palou’s lawyers, however, described McLaren’s claims as “vastly inflated”, calling the lawsuit “a barefaced attempt to take Mr Palou to the cleaners”.