Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire says he is “disappointed” not to get an opportunity to race in Formula 1 next season.
The Sauber junior driver claimed the F2 championship at the final round in Abu Dhabi, beating Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti to take the title.
However, Pourchaire will not step up into Formula 1 in 2024. He will follow 2021 champion Oscar Piastri and 2022 title winner Felipe Drugovich in failing to secure a place on the F1 grid immediately after winning the second-tier championship.
Speaking at the FIA Prize Giving Gala in Baku where he received his Formula 2 trophy, Pourchaire admitted he was “disappointed” not to have been offered a Formula 1 race seat in 2024.
“I think I’m the third F2 champion in a row to not be promoted to F1,” he said. “Which, it can happen. It’s not because you are an F2 champion that you will have a place in F1.
“But I’m disappointed, to be honest. Because I’m an F2 champion, I did some good results in the past. I did my best. The goal that the Sauber Academy told me was to win the championship – and I did it. So it’s like this.”
Formula 2 champions are barred by rule from competing in the series the following season. After winning the 2021 F2 title, Piastri spent a season as reserve driver at Alpine and privately testing the team’s pre-2022 cars until he was poached by McLaren as a race driver for 2023. Drugovich was signed as the inaugural member of the Aston Martin driver academy and participated in multiple Friday practice sessions for the team.
Pourchaire says he would like to secure a race drive in a series for 2024, such as the Japanese Super Formula championship, which Red Bull junior Liam Lawson competed in and almost won this year.
“For me, I would like to do a championship next year,” Pourchaire said.
“Driving in an F1 car for some testing days – it’s good, but it’s a lot of money and not every Formula 1 team can afford that. So unfortunately I think it will not be the case for me with the Sauber Academy. So I’ll try just to find a place in a good championship. So Super Formula is I think the best option for me.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Asked whether his failure to progress into F1 was just bad luck or reflective of a systematic problem with the sport, Pourchaire said “I think it’s a bit of both.”
“It’s a bit of wrong timing, wrong place probably,” he continued. “Because there’s just no space next year in F1.
“Of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…