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The Formula 2 champion, Theo Pourchaire, has expressed “disappointment” at not having the opportunity to race in Formula 1 next season.
The Sauber junior driver won the F2 championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi, beating Frederik Vesti to take the title.
However, the Frenchman will not be stepping up to Formula 1 in 2024. He will follow in the footsteps of the 2021 champion Oscar Piastri and the 2022 champion Felipe Drugovich in failing to secure a direct seat on the F1 grid immediately after winning the championship.
Speaking at the FIA prize-giving gala in Baku where he received his F2 trophy, Pourchaire admitted that he was disappointed not to be offered an F1 seat for 2024.
“I think I am the third consecutive F2 champion who has not been promoted to F1. It can happen. Just because you are the F2 champion doesn’t mean you will have a place in F1.”
“But I am disappointed, to be honest. Because I am the F2 champion, I have achieved good results in the past. I have done my best. The goal set for me by the Sauber Academy was to win the championship – and I have achieved it. But that’s how it is.”
F2 champions are not eligible to race in the series the following season. After winning the title in 2021, Piastri spent a season as a reserve driver at Alpine and tested the team’s cars privately until he was poached by McLaren to become a full-time driver in 2023. Drugovich was signed as the first member of the Aston Martin Academy and participated in several private tests and free practice on Fridays for the team.
Pourchaire says he would like to race in 2024, for example in the Japanese Super Formula championship, which Red Bull junior Liam Lawson participated in, narrowly missing out on the title this year.
“For me, I would like to do a championship next year.”
“Driving an F1 for a few days of testing is good, but it costs a lot of money and not all F1 teams can afford it. So unfortunately, I think this won’t be the case for me with the Sauber Academy. So I will just try to find a place in a good championship. Super Formula is, I think, the best option for me.”
He will fit this in with his commitments to Sauber.
“I will be a reserve driver for Sauber next year so I will do a lot of simulators, probably two free practice sessions, because I am still a rookie. Japan is obviously very far from Europe, but the cars are fast: we saw that with Liam Lawson. He had the opportunity to race in the Grand Prix [at AlphaTauri] and he was immediately fast in the car,