The McLaren team has won its case in the UK Supreme Court and will receive multimillion-dollar compensation in the case involving four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou.

McLaren filed a lawsuit for approximately $20 million after Palou violated his contract to join the IndyCar team in 2023 and become McLaren’s test and reserve driver in Formula 1. The racer himself admitted that he had violated the agreement, explaining that he took this step due to unfulfilled promises. Palou believed that he was prepared to compete in F1 as early as 2024, but when he realized that this would not happen, he refused to cooperate and signed a new contract with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Hearings at the High Court of London took place in October 2025. Witnesses included Palu and McLaren CEO Zac Brown.

Judge Picken rejected McLaren’s Formula 1 claim, so Palou does not need to pay any compensation for the F1 programme. At the same time, regarding IndyCar, the court found McLaren’s demands justified: Palu and his management company ALPA Racing must compensate the driver’s salary, payments for the 2024-2027 seasons, a bonus from General Motors for attracting a top driver and the loss of income from business transactions.

The total settlement currently stands at $10.19 million, and a final verdict in another sponsorship case could increase that to $12.6 million; This is much less than the amount McLaren was originally seeking.

Racing Bulls team boss Alan Perman said that the delay in announcing the driver lineup for the 2026 season was made out of respect for Yuki Tsunoda.

Tsunoda has struggled with Red Bull’s senior team and it has become clear that he will not remain with Max Verstappen at the end of the 2025 season and will be replaced by Isak Hajjar.

At the same time, Tsunoda was considered a candidate to return to Racing Bulls, where current driver Liam Lawson and Formula 2 debutant Arvid Lindblad were jockeying for the position.

The final decision was announced after the Qatar Grand Prix: Lawson and Lindblad were selected for Racing Bulls, and Tsunoda was appointed to the role of third and reserve driver in both teams.

Perman, who is entering his first season as team principal, explained that the decision was postponed to avoid distraction during the Constructors’ Championship race.

“To be honest, it was a matter of delay. At first we said the announcement would come after Mexico, then we decided to calm things down a bit,” Perman said.

“The reason for this was that Red Bull was in a fierce battle for the constructors’ championship. Racing Bulls was in a fierce battle for the constructors’ championship, so we did not want to talk about it any further. Then when we came to Qatar, we made a decision and announced it out of respect for Yuki. To be honest, [это было] “So he can race his last race with Red Bull Racing and I’m sure it doesn’t mean it’s his last race in Formula 1.”

After his official presentation, Lewis Hamilton got behind the wheel of the new Ferrari SF-26 for the first time, took to the track and competed in the car’s first races.

Ferrari unveiled its 2026 Formula 1 car on Friday morning, after which Hamilton almost immediately took to the Fiorano test track in front of a huge crowd.

Scores of fans gathered at the track to see the first Ferrari car built under the new powertrain regulations and hit the roads.

The seven-time world champion pilot gained the right to first try the car, and Ferrari became the sixth team to put the 2026 model car on the track.

Previous races have already been run by Audi, Cadillac, Racing Bulls, Mercedes and Alpine.

ECCOLA!
Ferrari SF-26
📸 @TechnicalRacing pic.twitter.com/FfrDK74jzt

— Formulacrica.it (@formulacritica) January 23, 2026