Second to last weekend of the season for the young drivers of Formula 2. The first for Théo Pourchaire, promoted to the higher category after his excellent performances in F3. And the least that can be said is that the start of his weekend is quite promising!
Thrown into the deep end of Formula 2 in Bahrain this weekend, the young driver from the Alpes-Maritimes had a very busy schedule. Seat fitting, getting acquainted with his new team for the last two events of the season, and especially discoving a new, much more powerful and complex single-seater to develop, the HWA (the former Arden team of the lamented Antoine Hubert). But nothing to scare off someone who became the youngest driver to start a GP in the category leading to Formula 1 at just 17 years, 3 months, and 8 days. “We don’t have any objective (for result) this weekend. The team advised me not to stress, to enjoy myself and to progress. I’m really going to have fun while remaining serious. I am the only F3 driver to have the chance to participate in an F2 weekend, so it’s great”, the newcomer rejoiced.
For his first qualifying session marked by two red flags that voided at least one of his attempts for a timed lap, Théo ranked after each “run” well ahead of his teammate. Ultimately, the blond-maned driver in his pink car took 16th place on the starting grid with a time over a second faster than his teammate Arthem Markelov! Quite a performance behind the wheel of a car severely lacking performance this season.
A solid long race
Despite a good initial start, the driver from Grasse found himself second-to-last after a few corners into the battle. But the F3 Vice World Champion kept his composure and quickly found his rhythm, overtaking experienced drivers like Lucas Ghiotto and even his teammate Markelov, a benchmark in the category (he holds the most wins in the category on the grid). If it needed proving, this demonstrates that the young driver from the Maralpine region certainly deserves this rather exceptional mid-season promotion.
Five seconds behind a small group of single-seaters, the Frenchman chipped away tenth by tenth, fitted with his hard tires. Climbing to 3rd place after various pit stops, he kept his lap times within 0.8 seconds of the illustrious Mick Schumacher, the World Championship leader with equal tire compounds. A further demonstration of effective management of his single-seater. After a 19-lap stint, the rookie made his first pit stop, one of the many novelties for him this weekend. An exercise that seemingly went quite well and allowed him to rejoin the race once again ahead of his teammate.
Towards the end of the race, he found himself battling with the other Frenchman on the grid, Giuliano Alesi, for 17th place. A battle that favored the Avignon native, but the main point lies elsewhere. Finishing more than 15 seconds ahead of his teammate and especially without making any mistakes, Pourchaire can be proud of his first GP.
There is still one more race this weekend to gain as much experience as possible. Tune in tomorrow at 10:50 am on Canal+ Décalé to follow the sprint race.
