2023-11-26 14:04:03
Romain Grosjean, in 2011, Pierre Gasly, in 2016, and now Théo Pourchaire. Sunday November 26, the 20-year-old ART GP driver became the third Frenchman crowned Formula 2 world champion – called GP2 until 2016 – following his 5th place during the fourteenth and final race of the season, in Abu Dhabi. .
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The Grassois advanced with a margin of 16 points over his rival Frederik Vesti (Prema) before the last start. By finishing in third place in the final race, the Dane only made up part of his gap in the standings over Pourchaire, who therefore acquired his first title in Formula 2, a category allowing young drivers to become more experienced. before a hypothetical career in Formula 1.
“It was a complicated weekend (…), you can sometimes see me in difficulty, but I never give up, I wanted to win this title”, reacted Théo Pourchaire upon arrival. The Frenchman adds this line to his list of achievements thanks to his consistency: this season, he only won one race. An incongruity compensated for by his ten podiums, between the so-called “sprint” races and the main races.
Alongside Rosberg, Hamilton and Leclerc
With this title, Pourchaire, who succeeds the Brazilian Felipe Drugovich, finds a place within a prestigious list of Formula 2 world champions. His name appears alongside those of the German Nico Rosberg (2005), the British Lewis Hamilton (2006) or the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (2017). So many drivers who subsequently distinguished themselves in Formula 1, the premier category.
A member of the Sauber Academy, the academy for young Alfa Romeo drivers currently in Formula 1, Pourchaire was competing in his third season in F2 this year. According to the regulations in force, the driver crowned in this category is not authorized to participate in the championship for the two seasons following his title.
Next year, the Frenchman will therefore focus on other objectives and will, for example, retain his role as reserve driver in F1 for Alfa Romeo, which will change its name since Sauber announced the end of its partnership with its title sponsor at the end of the year. The new team name has not yet been announced. But whatever its name, Pourchaire now dreams of competing with the best drivers in the world.
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