F1 hopeful to be forced AWAY from feeder series after 2024 snub

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F1 hopeful to be forced AWAY from feeder series after 2024 snub

He's on course to be a champion in 2023 but there is no room for him on the 2024 F1 grid

Joe Ellis

Sunday 29 October 2023 19:38

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Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire is being forced to look away from F1 for his 2024 racing fix.

The talented young Frenchman, who did not set a lap time during FP1 at the Mexican GP due to mechanical woes, is on course to be the Formula 2 champion with a handy lead over Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti.

But Alfa Romeo, who will return to the Sauber name in 2024, opted to retain Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu as its drivers, leaving Pourchaire facing a year on the sidelines.

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Team principal Alessandro Alunni Bravi hopes the 20-year-old can find a race seat in either Super Formula, where Liam Lawson was a title contender in 2023 away from his F1 efforts, or the World Endurance Championship.

Discussions in progress

Theo Pourchaire's wait for an F1 seat will continue after Zhou Guanyu was given a one-year extension

"We are discussing with his management to have a racing programme, alongside our programme,” Alunni Bravi told Autosport.

“We want him more involved with the F1 team, to perform more simulator sessions, and of course, he will be one of our reserve drivers.

“But he needs to race. So we are looking at racing programmes, and there are two alternatives at the moment on the table, one is Super Formula in Japan, and one is the WEC.”

Pourchaire would have to find a race seat in the Hypercar class of WEC in 2024 with the LMP2 cars only racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours due to a rise in interest in the top class from manufacturers.