Formula 2 star Theo Pourchaire in contention for FP1 outing with Alfa Romeo


Formula 2 star Theo Pourchaire in contention for FP1 outing with Alfa Romeo

Theo Pourchaire

Theo Pourchaire the F2 driver is very close to getting his first taste of Formula One and this has been revealed by Alfa Romeo team Principal Frederick Vasseur.

The team is looking to find a suitable window where they would be able to have Theo pourchaire in their car so that they will be on course to satisfy the FIA regulations.

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At the start of the 2022 season, it was made clear by the FIA that all 10 teams are required to run a rookie or reserve drivers for at least two Practice sessions. However, Alfa Romeo is yet to give Pourchaure his opportunity.

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The 18-year-old is currently third in the Drivers Championship in F2 but because of the different schedules that F2 and F1 are running this season, it has been difficult for the Ferrari sister team to get him in their car. However, Vasseur has insisted that the young starlet’s time will come.

We will find an FP1 [session] because it’s per regulation that you have to give an FP1 to the rookie.

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Theo Pourchaire has a chance of securing the second seat at Alfa Romeo for next season

Theo Pourchaire
Theo Pourchaire

“But when we discuss about it, if you consider when you have the F2 races, we have some events with the sprint races, we will have some events with tyre testing.”

And you can’t imagine [giving] the rookie session to Singapore, even Suzuka will be difficult, even if I think that Max [Verstappen] did it a couple of years ago. You don’t have so many races until the end, but we’ll find the solution, don’t worry – by regulation, it’s mandatory.”

Vasseur believes it is extremely risky to give the rookie driver a chance at the current stage of the season but is confident they will find space for him in the upcoming 11 events of the season.

Zhou Guanyu’s contract with the team is up at the end of the year and there could be an opportunity for the young Theo to get the second seat at the team to drive alongside Valtteri Bottas.

However, after a tough start to the season, Zhou’s form has improved and the team boss has also indicated that he made the right decision by putting the Chinese driver alongside Valtteri Bottas.

The first target was to get to Q2, I think he was in Q2 in race one, he scored points in race one, and then now after mid-season let’s say, he has been able to do Q3 two times in a row, he was even out-qualifying Valtteri,” Vasseur said.

He scored points again in Montreal, and we had some issues with the reliability, but he would have been able to score points two or three times before.”

Guanyu Zhou
Guanyu Zhou

I am more than pleased with the results, I am more than pleased with the behavior of Zhou out of the car with us, and I think it was a perfect choice.”

Frederick Vasseur is highly pleased with the exploits of Zhou so far in the season and given the way he has talked about the Chinese starlet, it can be said that the chance of Theo getting the seat for 2023 is grim, however, one thing he can find some solace in is the fact that he is guaranteed to get his opportunity to run the Alfa Romeo at some stage during this season.

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