| Théo Pourchaire | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Theo Pourchaire.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  French
| |
| P.o.B. | Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
| |
| D.o.B. | 20 August 2003 | |
| Début |  2020 Bahrain Feature Race
| |
| Best Finish | 5th (2021) | |
| Formula Two Career | ||
| Entries | 43 (43 Starts) | |
| Wins | 4 | |
| First Win |  2021 Monaco Feature Race
| |
| Poles | 1 | |
| FLs | 4 | |
| Podiums | 8 | |
| Points | 140 | |
| Former Teams |  HWA Racelab
| |
| Current Season | ||
| Team | ART Grand Prix
| |
| Number | Standings | Points |
| 10 | 2nd | 164 |
Théo Pourchaire (born 20 August 2003 in Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France) is a French racing driver, who made history as the youngest ever starter in the FIA Formula 2 Championship who competes in the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship with ART Grand Prix.[1] Initially making his debut towards the end of the 2020 season, Pourchaire arrived in F2 as the runner-up in the FIA Formula 3 Championship aged 17 years, 100 days[2]
Pourchaire's debut came with HWA Racelab towards the end of the 2020 season, when the Frenchman was chosen to partner Artem Markelov at the final four races of the campaign.[2] His four race cameo would be an unspectacular one in the back-marking #17 HWA, with his only incident of note being an extinguisher failure that caused him to retire from the 2020 Bahrain Sprint Race.[3]
For 2021 Pourchaire joined ART for his rookie campaign, partnering Christian Lundgaard for the season and was considered a contender for the Championship.[4] Pourchaire went on to claim two victories, including one from pole position in Monte Carlo, en-route to fifth in the Championship.[5]
Retained by ART for 2022, Pourchaire would take over as the team's lead driver as the French squad signed Frederik Vesti to partner the Frenchman.[1]
Elsewhere, Pourchaire is a member of the Sauber Junior Team, having signed for the F1 squad's development programme in 2018, and serves as the test driver for the Alfa Romeo F1 Team.[6]
Background[]
Pourchaire began his racing career at a very early age, driving a kart at the age of two and a half before making his competitive debut at the age of seven.[7] Between 2012 and 2017 the Frenchman would take multiple French national Championships, before graduating to French F4 in 2018.[7] Entering the Junior class, Pourchaire would have a stunning rookie season, claiming the Junior title with fourteen victories in eighteen races.[7]
The Junior Elevator: 2018 - 2020[]
Having also claimed a single victory in the Championnat de France F4 in 2018, Pourchaire opened 2019 with a seat in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship, as well as a place in the Sauber Junior Team.[6] Armed with their backing, Pourchaire claimed four wins while engaging Dennis Hauger in a season long fight for the title, with the Frenchman ultimately emerging ahead on the final day.[7] That earned Pourchaire a graduation to the FIA Formula 3 Championship for 2020, with the Frenchman signing with the ART Grand Prix squad for the season.[7]
Pourchaire impressed in his maiden F3 campaign, claiming his first victory in only his fourth race, becoming F3/GP3 Series' youngest ever race winner.[7] A further win and a run of podium finishes saw Pourchaire again head into the final day of the season as a title pretender, although he was ultimately beaten to the crown by Oscar Piastri by just three points.[7]
Formula 2 History[]
Pourchaire was signed to the HWA Racelab FIA Formula 2 squad in the build-up to the 2020 Bahrain Feature Race, aged just 17 fresh from his run to second in the FIA F3 Championship.[2] He hence replaced fellow F3 graduate Jake Hughes at the German squad, and would partner F2 and GP2 Series veteran Artem Markelov at the final four races of the 2020 season.[2] A solid debut saw Pourchaire out qualify and finish ahead of his more experienced teammate, before retiring from the Sprint Race after an extinguisher failure mid-race.[3]
Pourchaire was similarly mired at the back of the field in the final two races of the season on the Bahrain Outer Circuit, failing to threaten the points as his brief cameo came to an end.[8]
ART Ambitions: 2021[]
After his brief cameo ART Grand Prix would decide to promote Pourchaire into a full F2 seat for the 2021 season, with the Frenchman partnering Christian Lundgaard for his full rookie campaign.[4] Pourchaire duly started the season opening 2021 Bahrain Sprint Race 1 from pole position, although a poor start cost him the lead, before an engine issue ruled him out completely.[9] The Frenchman then put in a rather overlooked charge from the back of the field to the points in the second Bahrain Sprint, before claiming eighth place in the Bahrain Feature having run just off the back of the fight for victory.[10]
Favourite Fortune?: 2022[]
Pourchaire was retained by ART for the 2022 season, who partnered him with Frederik Vesti, with the Frenchman considered one of the favourites for the title in his sophomore season.[1]
Post Formula 2 Career[]
Full Formula 2 Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Théo Pourchaire's career in Formula 2 in statistical form.
Formula 2 Entries[]
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Théo Pourchaire during their F2 career:
| Théo Pourchaire's Overall Formula 2 Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Pos. | Pts. | Livery |
| 2020 | BWT HWA Racelab[2]
|
17 | Dallara F2 2018 | 26th | 0 | File:POU 20 Livery.png |
| 2021 | ART Grand Prix[4]
|
10 | Dallara F2 2018 | 5th | 140 | File:POU 21 Livery.png |
| 2022 | ART Grand Prix[1]
|
10 | Dallara F2 2018 | 2nd | 164 | 
|
Career Results[]
Below is a table showing Théo Pourchaire's full Formula 2 record.
| FIA Formula 2 Championship Record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | |||
| 2020 | 
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26th | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | |||||
| 18th | Ret | 18th | 21st | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 |
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5th | 140 | ||||||||||||||||||
| S | S | F | S | S | F | S | S | F | S | S | F | S | S | F | S | S | F | S | S | F | S | S | F | |||||
| Ret | 6th | 8th | 7th | 4th | 1st | 5th | 9th | Ret | 5th | 10th | 8th | 1st | 10th | 4th | 5th | CAN | 2nd | Ret | 6th | Ret | 7th | 9th | 4th | |||||
| 2022 |
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2nd | 164 | |||||||||||||
| S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | |||
| Ret | 1st | 13th | Ret | 7th | 1st | 5th | 8th | 6th | 2nd | 7th | 11th | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 13th | 9th | 1st | 6th | Ret | 20th | 9th | 17th | Ret | 9th | 19th | |||
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Megan White, 'Pourchaire extends ART stay in Formula 2 for 2022 season', motorsport.com, (Motorsport Network, 10/01/2022), https://www.motorsport.com/fia-f2/news/pourchaire-extends-art-stay-in-formula-2-for-2022-season/7169833/, (Accessed 20/04/2022)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 'F3 vice-champion Pourchaire set for F2 debut in Rounds 11 and 12', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 14/10/2020), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/7HtVHoGHdI4rblEyGKDlVs/f3-vice-champion-pourchaire-set-for-f2-debut-in-rounds-11-and-12, (Accessed 14/10/2020)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 [Subscription] 'F2: SPRINT RACE HIGHLIGHTS - Bahrain', f1tv.formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2020), https://f1tv.formula1.com/en/episode/f2-sprint-race-highlights-bahrain-2020, (Accessed 13/12/2020)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Rachit Thukral, 'Sauber protégé Pourchaire moves up to F2 with ART', motorsport.com, (Motorsport Network, 25/01/2021), https://www.motorsport.com/fia-f2/news/sauber-pourchaire-art-move-2021/5188793/?ic_source=home-page-widget&ic_medium=widget&ic_campaign=widget-22, (Accessed 25/01/2021)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedYas21R3 - ↑ 6.0 6.1 'Sauber Junior Team development drivers revealed', sauber-group.com, (Sauber AG, 19/02/2019), https://www.sauber-group.com/motorsport/junior-racing-team-news/sauber-junior-team-development-drivers-revealed/, (Accessed 19/10/2020)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 'Théo Pourchaire', driverdb.com, (Driver Database, 2020), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/theo-pourchaire/, (Accessed 19/10/2020)
- ↑ 'Schumacher crowned F2 champion, as Daruvala scores first win in Sakhir Sprint Race', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 06/12/2020), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/66h7TvjAiqXsqKtWnJaEle/schumacher-crowned-f2-champion-as-daruvala-scores-first-win-in-sakhir-sprint, (Accessed 06/12/2020)
- ↑ 'SPRINT RACE 1: Lawson holds off Daruvala to win on his F2 debut in Sakhir', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 27/03/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/7hfAPKUngXhbH4OOKFN4KJ/sprint-race-1-lawson-holds-off-daruvala-to-win-on-his-f2-debut-in-sakhir, (Accessed 27/03/2021)
- ↑ 'FEATURE RACE: Zhou fights to first Feature Race win with inspired performance in Sakhir', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 28/03/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/2KxPFaIoNmlPKIuqbLYL0l/feature-race-zhou-fights-to-first-feature-race-win-with-inspired-performance, (Accessed 28/03/2021)