This weekend, Théo Pourchaire was in Austria at the Spielberg track. Third in qualifying, the driver from Grasse had a great opportunity to close the gap in the championship.
Starting ahead of the championship leader, Frederick Vesti (11 points difference) during the sprint race, Théo Pourchaire had the chance to gain valuable points. On a slightly damp track, his ART team gambled by fitting him with rain tires. It was a successful strategy at the start of the race as the Frenchman found himself in second position. However, a safety car compromised his strategy from the second lap. The rain tires were no longer effective on a drying track. After pitting, Pourchaire lost the strategic advantage and got stuck in the pack until the end of the race, finishing in 16th position after receiving a penalty for an “unsafe release.”
The long race turns into a nightmare
Starting third in the long Sunday race, Pourchaire started just behind Frederick Vesti. The two drivers found themselves first and second after the start. On the same strategy, Théo Pourchaire had no choice but to make a difference on the track. However, from the first racing stint, the Danish driver, Pourchaire’s championship rival, pulled away. Much faster than the driver from Grasse, Vesti was never troubled during the race. Even with an early stop from the ART team allowing Pourchaire to catch up after 12 laps, the outcome seemed inevitable. Another bad news was the return of Jack Doohan to challenge the driver from Maralpin. Despite a strong defense from Théo Pourchaire, there was nothing he could do.
Worse still, the ART number 5 driver found himself under pressure from drivers with fresh tires at the end of the race following the intervention of the Safety Car. Lap after lap, Pourchaire dropped to 7th position while Frederick Vesti held on to finish 3rd. Ultimately, the third man in the championship, the Japanese driver Ayumu Iwassa, capitalized on the race incidents to finish 2nd of the race, having started 16th.
In the standings, Iwassa (101 points) closes in, just four points behind Théo Pourchaire (105 points) at the end of the weekend. Frederick Vesti remains the leader with a 20-point lead over the Frenchman.
The next Formula 2 event is next week at Silverstone.
