F1 reserve role not enough for Pourchaire

He may be at the top of the table in his third season of Formula 2, but Theo Pourchaire admits he still has no racing project lined up for 2024.

The 20-year-old Frenchman has been Sauber’s reserve driver for some time, but his F2 adventure is definitely now ending - and he’s been offered no race seat in F1.

"The people around me are planning ahead now," Pourchaire, who was 14th fastest in Friday free practice for Alfa Romeo this weekend, told RMC Sport in Abu Dhabi.

"I will still be a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo," he said when asked about 2024. "It’s good but for me I’ve already told them that it’s not enough.

"I want to race. I’m young and I know I have the ability to go further in this sport. Staying on the sidelines for a year doing simulators and a few tests in F1 is not enough."

With another season in F2 out of the question, drivers like Pourchaire are basically limited to world endurance championship, Super Formula in Japan or Indycar.

"There are championships I can go to and we are in discussion," he confirmed.

"Endurance is a very nice championship, but for me it is not the objective because it is not something that would bring me closer to F1. I want to do something that prepares me to go to Formula 1 in 2025, because I think I have the ability and I think I deserve my chance.

"I think Super Formula is a good championship because the car is very fast, the level is very high. It’s not very well publicised but the most important thing for me is that it is watched by Formula 1 teams.

"There is also Indycar which is more publicized but a little different. We’ll see, depending on the opportunities. The Super Formula calendar fits very well with that of the third F1 driver. It’s a compromise that seems good to me but I would like to compete in a good team if I go there so I’m not forgotten."

Pourchaire admitted that part of the road to F1 for young drivers these days is learning to be patient.

"It’s very important," he smiled, "and I think it’s one of the things I’m least able to master because I’m close to F1.

"I know the opportunity will come one day but of course I would have liked it to come last year. Now this year it is still not there, but I believe in myself. I have to be patient."