Pourchaire sure he’ll get more chances to join F1 after strong IndyCar debut

Reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire is confident he has “a few more opportunities” to try and get onto the Formula 1 grid.

Driving for McLaren in place of the injured David Malukas, Pourchaire started from 22nd on the grid but finished 11th after climbing 11 places – the most of any driver in the race. He compete for the team again in this weekend’s round at Barber Motorsports Park.

Pourchaire missed out on a promotion into Formula 1 this season as Sauber opted to renew its contract with Zhou Guanyu. However, Pourchaire believes he will get future opportunities to fight for a seat in F1.

“It’s very, very difficult because I feel like there is not a lot of new drivers in F1 nowadays,” Pourchaire told media including RaceFans. “It’s the same drivers since a lot of time. It’s good to have some experience and good drivers, but they need to win, they need to be really good.

“But in my position, I’m still really young, I know I can have probably a few more opportunities to go to F1 if I’m a really good driver. I think a place like the IndyCar championship can be the best championship for me to show myself. I hope I can drive more there in the future – if I don’t have the opportunity in F1, That would be awesome.”

At just 20 years old, Pourchaire would be comfortably the youngest driver on the current grid, albeit older than Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearmanwho made an unexpected debut in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last month.

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“I feel like I have a lot of time in front of me because sometimes people can forget that, but I’m only 20-years-old,” Pourchaire said. “Of course, I’m F2 champion, which is great.

“I want more. I want to win a few championships. If I can win one day the IndyCar championship, my dream is also to be an F1 world champion – that’s the dream of everybody.

“I have a few possibilities. I still have a lot of time in front of me. I would say, yeah, probably a few years.”

Pourchaire is also racing in the Super Formula series in Japan this season. He said he was impressed by his first taste of IndyCar around the streets of Long Beach and is looking forward to racing around a permanent road course like Barber this weekend.

“It’s very powerful, which is really, really good,” Pourchaire said of IndyCar. “When you’re in the car, you accelerate, it’s like, ‘wow, there’s a lot of power!’.

“I was surprised. I was smiling. I was a little bit… not ‘scared’, but at Long Beach, the first lap, I was like ‘it’s very bumpy and powerful, I have to be careful’.

“I’m getting a lot more comfortable. Confidence as well is super important for me. I did a great weekend in Long Beach, I didn’t do any big mistakes. I think I touched the wall twice. I was trying to reach the limits of the car and the track.

“I have a great, great team around me. They are helping me a lot. For my confidence, it’s amazing. Hopefully I can continue like this in Barber. I just did one race weekend in IndyCar, I never did a complete test day in IndyCar. I still have a lot to learn.”

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