NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The IndyCar free agent market apparently hinges nearly entirely on a driver who is at least six weeks away from unveiling his racing plans for beyond this season.
Just like on track during the 2023 season, everything off the track seems to be revolving around points leader Alex Palou.
“I’m used to it from last year,” Palou, who spent two months in a contract dispute with Chip Ganassi Racing before agreeing to return this season, said with a smile. “Yeah, I don’t like it, but I understand it.”
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So does he hold all the power in determining not only his own fate but that of several others?
“That’s what you think,” Palou said. “Yeah, that’s what it looks like.”
And with more than 10 drivers unsigned or uncertain on their contract statuses for 2024, the Spaniard is in no hurry to topple the most important domino.
After having to answer nonstop questions in a messy second half of last season about whether he would be driving for Arrow McLaren or Ganassi in ’23, Palou politely has declined to reveal anything about his future until after the Sept. 10 finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
“We obviously have decided to not announce or talk about 2024 after everything that happened until the season is done,” Palou said. “We’ll see what happens then.”
And until then, are everyone’s plans on hold?
“I don’t think everybody’s waiting on that,” said Palou, who is believed to be deciding between staying with Ganassi, joining Arrow McLaren (as he had expected to do last year) or perhaps making a leap to Formula One. “They all say that, but I don’t trust that. But we’ll see. I don’t know. It’s kind of interesting. Obviously, we’re not going to say anything until Laguna is done.”
Felix Rosenqvist, who is facing a hazy future late in the season for the fourth consecutive season (the past three with Arrow McLaren), still believes everything leads back to Palou.
Depending on which route is taken by the 2021 series champion, Rosenqvist said every team in the IndyCar paddock could be affected with the exception of Team Penske (which has Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin under contract beyond this year).
“It’s a very open landscape, and I feel like everything is kind of put on pause because of Palou mainly, so I think that’s kind of delayed everything a bit,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s open. I’ve obviously been talking to most teams just to see what their situation is, and for them to see where my situation is. It’s still very open, and probably after this weekend, things are going to speed up a little bit.”
But Rosenqvist conceded he is basing that on deadlines in contract clauses (to which he isn’t privy) involving Palou and other drivers.
Marcus Ericsson, who is in a contract year at Ganassi, was allowed to begin entertaining offers from other teams this week, and the 2022 Indy 500 winner believes his future might be unrelated to Palou’s.
“I think from what I think I know, it should be a separate thing,” Ericsson said. “But I still think the whole paddock is waiting a bit on the Palou situation and what’s happening there. In some ways, it probably does affect my situation as well. But from the conversations I’ve had with my current team, that shouldn’t influence what we’re doing.”
David Malukas, who reaffirmed Friday after Music City Grand Prix practice that he will be leaving Dale Coyne Racing after two seasons, said he also has an option independent of Palou’s fate.
But ….
“There’s a few drivers in the field that have been rumored to move,” Malukas said. “I think it’s kind of everybody is waiting on them. I obviously don’t want to name them, but if those two drivers move, it’s going to be a massive domino effect of a lot of people starting to jump.
“The way I see it, I think it’s all rumors. I don’t know if things are actually going to change. We have an option that isn’t affected by that. But nothing is signed. Everything is still kind of in the talks. Hopefully in the next few weeks, things are going to start kicking off.”
Here is what is known about several potential free agents and what they said Friday:
Palou: He remained mostly mum on his future Friday, declining to comment when asked whether he wasn’t allowed to discuss it or whether he still was deciding (“whatever way I respond to that question, it’s going to be big news”).
But he did confirm he has no offer yet to race in F1, reaffirming what he had said last month in Toronto. “It hasn’t really changed much,” he said. “There’s no seats available or any offers so far. Might change tomorrow. As of today, no.”
Ericsson: Though he has expressed frustration about talks with team owner Chip Ganassi in recent months, Ericsson struck an upbeat tone Friday about possibly returning and noted he’s been in constant communication with CGR since May.
“There’s a lot of interest from other teams as well,” Ericsson said. “So there’s definitely conversations going on with Ganassi. It’s still a strong option. The next few weeks, hopefully I’ll know a bit more, but no decision has been made.
“I think it’s a special situation with Alex and what’s going to happen there. Really, it’s stuff I can’t really affect or change. So I need to just focus on myself and my future and what’s best for me. So I’d like to not really think too much about that or let that affect everything. That’s my mindset around it.”
Rosenqvist: The Swede initially was ticketed for Formula E and then seemingly headed for another IndyCar destination before surprisingly returning to Arrow McLaren for 2023. So Rosenqvist learned last year that “anything can happen. I think honestly, I can end up in any team
“We saw last year, you never know what’s going to happen. And I think the fact that I don’t think anyone’s signed yet kind of confirms that. I wouldn’t exclude or promise anything. It looks pretty good for me right now. So I’m pretty happy where I’m sitting and pretty sure things are going to work out well. … There are a lot of good teams out there and seems to be a lot of good interest as well for my services, so we’ll see where it ends up.”
Callum Ilott: The second-year driver for Juncos Hollinger Racing said he knows he’ll be racing in IndyCar next year “no matter what” but still is awaiting clarity on which ride depending on how things unfold for other drivers.
“To be honest, how it affects me I don’t know yet,” Ilott said. “Until people decide what they’re doing, there’s nothing I can really say at the moment. It’s always a delayed process. I think it sounded like in the beginning that it was going to be a real rush, and they’ve just kind of pushed and pushed and pushed.”
The Brit declined to get into specifics of whether the team holds an option for next year -- “it’s too specific to go into; in a certain sense yes and a certain sense no, things within that always have to be met, and it’s kind of an ongoing discussion … I’m not stressed about it. But another way, you never know which way it can go” – but believes it could be until the final two weeks of the season.
Malukas: Though he has a plan, Malukas has no contract guarantee yet. And his destination could change depending on what happens with other drivers.
“It depends with the timing,” he said. “For me it’s more securing my future than waiting on these other drivers. If you wait and wait, nobody moves, and now we don’t really have any options. … If they move, then yes, maybe something. But there’s also a lot of other drivers going in for it, too. It’s going to be more of a battle. If nothing happens, there’s still something else.”
Other teams with drivers whose plans have yet to be confirmed beyond 2023: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Jack Harvey, Graham Rahal); Andretti Autosport (Devlin DeFrancesco, Romain Grosjean); Meyer Shank Racing (Helio Castroneves).
