Théo Pourchaire will have to find another single-seater championship outside of F2 in 2024

Théo Pourchaire, a promising French talent in motorsport, is on the verge of winning the Formula 2 championship. The problem with all of this is that once a driver wins the F2 championship, they can no longer race in that category. Typically, the logical progression for champions at this level is to move up to the premier category, Formula 1. But Théo Pourchaire finds himself blocked once again.

Indeed, he is part of Sauber’s junior driver program. The F1 team’s racing stable is currently under the Alfa Romeo brand, which is expected to withdraw from the series at the end of the year. Sauber has already confirmed that they will retain their current drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, for the next season. This is where an alternative must be found for the French driver to continue racing and not lose his rhythm, allowing him to continue making progress.

The Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team is aiming for a seat in the Super Formula for their protege Theo Pourchaire in 2024, with the World Endurance Championship as a backup plan. This is the path that Oscar Piastri and more recently Liam Lawson have already taken. The young driver is aware of his situation and is also starting to think about his next season: It is best to drive a car close to Formula 1. Of course, nothing is really very close to F1, F1 is truly special. But of course, it is best to drive a very fast single-seater.

Heading towards the Japanese Super Formula?

The team boss of Alfa Romeo, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, said to Autosport, “We are discussing with their management about a parallel racing program to ours. We want him to be more integrated into the Formula 1 team, to have more simulator sessions, and of course, to be one of our reserve drivers. But he has to race, and in a series that is as high-profile as possible.”

(e) The Super Formula is highly competitive. We have seen different drivers gain experience there, with Stoffel Vandoorne in 2016, Pierre Gasly in 2017, and Liam Lawson this year.

There are still available spots. For me, it’s not important for the driver to be there to win the championship, but to be in a competitive category. The car is a high-performance car with cornering speed similar to that of Formula 1.

A test in Mexico that was inconclusive in F1.

Théo Pourchaire was in tests during Free Practice 1 with Alfa Romeo. Unfortunately for the French driver, the gearbox caused some trouble, notably with the braking part of the electric engine. « Unfortunately, […] we had a problem with the electric braking system. We had a development component on the car, and unfortunately, it didn’t work. We tried to fix it during the session but it was obvious that we had to remove the gearbox and repair it. So, it wasn’t possible… » stated Xevi Pujolar.

Alfa Romeo has already announced that a new test will be possible for Théo Pourchaire in Abu Dhabi.