Palou turned🦩 his back on joining McLaren for the 2024 IndyCar season in a surprising twist.

The 26-year-old was involved in a contract struggle between Ganaಌssi and McLaren in 2022, when Palou signed a contract with the Working-based team.

Ganassi ultimately filed a lawsuit against Palou𒐪, which ultimately led him to remain the team for this season, while being able to drive McLaren’s F1 cars and ac🐟t as their reserve driver.

Palou got opportunities to drive for McLaren at the Hungaroring very recently, while he drove in FP1 at last year’s United States Gra💦nd Prix.

It’s a kick in the teeth for Zak Brown, who can probably empathise more with Alpine who lost 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Oscar Piastri to McLaren last year following a 💫contract tug-of-war.

In a letter sen🌠t to McLare🔴n employees, Brown wrote: “This is incredibly disappointing, considering the commitment he has made to us both directly and publicly and our significant investment in him based on that commitment. 

“Time, money and resources preparing to welcome Alex into our team becau💙se we believed in him and were looking forward to IndyCar wins with him.”

It seems likely Palou will remain in IndyCar and sign a longer,🥂 multi-year deal with Ganassi.

Howev🉐er, by cutting ties with McLaren, he does leave himself open to F1 opportunit☂ies elsewhere.

Clearly, with Piastri and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris, McLaren have 🍷their F1 driver line🀅-up sorted for the next three to four years - there’s no chance for Palou.

What options could he have in F1?

AlphaTauri

The obvious choice is AlphaTauri given the uncertainty around their๊ driver line-up.

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Daniel Ricciardo made a surprise return in place of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nyck de Vries at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the Australian openly eyeing up 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Sergio Perez’s seat for 2025.

Ricciardo doeꩲsn’t fit the AlphaTauri profile but given that they have limited options outside of Liam Lawson, his return was ultimately logical.

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Yuki Tsunoda seems favoured by Helmut Marko and the Red Bull management, however, he’s♋ yet to prove he’s worthy of a Red Bull drive.

Red Bull have shown byဣ the signing of de Vries that they are prepared to go outside of their own driver academy if needed.

With potentially two IndyCar titles to his name, Palou has th♓e credentials while being a more experienced option age-wise.

Haas

All signs are pointing towards 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nico Hulkenberg remaining with Haas for another season.

The German has been magnificent in qualifying, leading 𝔉the team to some impressive highs.

On the other hand, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Kevin Magnussen has struggled, and Miami aside, he's g🌠enerally been 🃏underwhelming.

The Dane🌱 is out of contract aꩲt the end of the year, with Haas in no rush to hand him a new deal.

Haas don’t have too many options, particularly as team boss Guenther Steiner isn’t keen on rookie drivers after two years of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Mick Schumacher.

Pa🍒lou, while he’d officially be a rookie in F1, has a wealth of top single-seater experience, combined with his age at 26, isn’t a traditional ‘rookie’ either.

While he is not an American♐, it would be great PR for Haas to sign the 🅺best driver from IndyCar.

Williams

Palou’s final option would be Williams.

Williams enjoyed a surprise upwards trajectory in 2023 with168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Alex Albon spear-heading their revival.

The signing of James Vowles as team principal has been a major coup, but they still need a better-performing se𝓰cond driver.

Similar to Nicholas Latifi, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Logan Sargeant continues to underperform𓃲 and shows no real sign of improvementꦿ.

He has shown flashes of pace - Bahrain and Azerbaijan spring to m🌱ind - but the🌠 gap to Albon is too vast.

Schumacher is in the frame to return to F1 with Williams in 20🦹24 - which may make this a more unlikely option for Palou.