A kép forrása: Formula
P1racenews AI automatikus összefoglalója:
Nem tartalékosként, hanem az F1-es felállásuk szerves részeként tekint a csapat Theo Pourchaire-re – de az még kérdés, hol versenyezhet a francia.
Theo Pourchaire, as a member of the Sauber driver academy, is excelling in the Formula 2 this year: in his third season in the series, he has only been able to win a race at the Bahrain season opener so far, but he will arrive at the Abu Dhabi season finale as the championship leader in two weeks.
Pourchaire has also been given the opportunity to drive an F1 car by Alfa Romeo: he was able to participate in the first practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix. However, the car did not really work under him, so out of the five rookies who had the opportunity, he was the only one who couldn’t complete a meaningful timed lap.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, the team representative of Alfa Romeo, confirmed that Pourchaire will have another chance to prove himself behind the wheel of an F1 car this year, as he will have another practice session in Abu Dhabi, and he will also be able to drive at the young drivers’ test following the weekend. Alunni Bravi also found only positives in Pourchaire’s performance in Mexico, despite the lack of laps:
„He has been waiting for this practice all year, and then in Mexico, he couldn’t complete any laps due to car problems. And yet, he remained calm on the team radio and provided precise and concrete instructions for the team. So, if you ask me, this experience is also positive for him. It showed that he is mature,” RacingNews365.com portal quoted his words.
But what will happen with Pourchaire next year? If Pourchaire does indeed win the Formula 2, he will not be able to compete in the championship in 2024, so he will have to look for other options. Although he did not secure a racing seat in F1 for now, as the Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou pair will stay at Alfa Romeo, the team still considers him as a serious reserve driver – and they are considering other possibilities as well:
„He deserves it, and although we have already confirmed our 2024 line-up, we are looking at what would be the appropriate racing program for him to stay in shape,” Alunni Bravi said. Pourchaire himself previously mentioned IndyCar and Super Formula as possible options.
However, Sauber’s commitment to the young talent is clearly indicated by the team principal emphasizing that they do not consider him as just a reserve driver, but as an integral part of their driver line-up: „He is part of our line-up. We will have three drivers next year, not just two official drivers and one reserve.”
Forrás: Formula
