![]() ![]() More likely, the 26-year-old will remain in Ind圜ar in one of the best seats on the grid.Īt Indianapolis, Palou endured a messy race after his lap-one clip of Armstrong and later also clashed with the impressive Devlin DeFrancesco. Might Palou find a berth elsewhere without McLaren’s assistance? Not right now, it seems – especially as his Monaco-based management company expressed dismay at the mess and has severed its ties with him. Palou has tested for McLaren in F1 and rumours have persisted that he is eyeing a future in grand prix racing – even if there is no room at the Woking team while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri remain incumbent. “That’s all I have to say on the topic for the time being.” “I’m extremely disappointed that Alex Palou does not intend to honour his contractual obligations to race with us in Ind圜ar in 2024 and beyond,” he said in a statement. Simply stated, the position of McLaren Ind圜ar regarding our driver is inaccurate and wrong he remains under contract with CGR.”įor his part, Brown was also upset. It is the interference of that contract from McLaren that began this process and ironically, they are now playing the victim. Alex Palou has been a part of our team and under contract since the 2021 season. “The new management does not get my same respect. “I grew up respecting the McLaren team and their success,” he said. ![]() The row led Chip Ganassi to issue a stinging statement aimed directly at Zak Brown. Now it seems he wants to stay just where he is, despite McLaren claiming it has a contract for him to switch sides. This time last year, the Spaniard was trying to leave Ganassi to join Arrow McLaren. nineteen seasons? Ridiculous.”īeyond the stunning finish and Dixon’s remarkable victory, the biggest talking point of the weekend centred around an ugly contractual spat for Palou’s services in 2024. Rahal admitted it stung, but added with reverence: “We’re going up against the best of all time, by far. The #15 Dallara-Honda closed in, but Dixon was just able to keep out of reach, leaving Rahal to come up short by just half a second at the chequer. After Rahal’s final stop, he was 6.9 seconds down on Dixon and the chase was on for what turned into a thrilling finale. As the Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver said afterwards, he and his team executed a fine race and did nothing wrong – but were undone by Dixon and Ganassi pulling their masterstroke. Rahal led 36 of the 85 laps, but it would have been much more without Dixon’s alternative strategy pushing him up the order. After that humiliation, here he was dominating on the road course. The 34-year-old son of Bobby Rahal had relished his return to the front, especially in the wake of his heartbreak at Indianapolis just three months ago when he failed to make the cut to start the Indy 500. That meant when they stopped for a final time, Dixon had cycled through to the front of the field – and from that position this Ind圜ar master rarely lets it slip.ĭixon’s mugging of the field was particularly harsh on Graham Rahal, who had started from pole position and was chasing what would have been his first victory in six years. Having pitted under yellows, he then eked out his fuel and tyres to make only two more scheduled stops after racing resumed on lap eight, while his frontrunning rivals made three over the course of the rest of the 85 laps that all ran under green. The incident triggered a long safety car interruption and that proved crucial to Dixon’s recovery. ![]() Indy 500 winner Newgarden required a new nose for his Dallara and soldiered on to finish 25 th, two laps down. Crucially for Palou, his main title rival Josef Newgarden – who started back in 25 th after an engine change penalty – ran up and over Armstrong’s prone car, the Penske entry ending up stuck over its back. His team-mate and championship leader Alex Palou tagged another Ganassi car, that of Marcus Armstrong, and in the concertina effect Romain Grosjean spun Dixon around. Ganassi’s favourite son looked out of luck on the opening lap when he found himself caught up in a pile-up at Turn 7. Given his age, it seems unlikely he’ll match ‘Super Tex’ – but this is Dixon we’re talking about, so you can never rule it out. This was also Dixon’s 54 th Ind圜ar victory, pulling him two clear of Mario Andretti’s tally, although he’s still 13 short of AJ Foyt’s record of 67. That magic trick means the Kiwi stretches his incredible record of winning for a 19 th consecutive season in what was his 319 th Ind圜ar start. The 43-year-old six-time champion only started the Ind圜ar race from 15 th on Saturday, then somehow pulled a famous spin-and-win result from the Chip Ganassi Racing hat thanks to an inspired alternative tyre strategy. It’s an Ind圜ar cliché, but only because it’s true: you can never rule out Scott Dixon. ![]()
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