After a long season of Formula 2 the Frenchman Théo Pourchaire clinched the championship with an 11 point difference to the runner up Fredrik Vesti. But how did he do it?
Théo like many others started out his journey into motorsport with karting. He was quite young when he started two and half or 3 at a track in the South of France near the city of Grasse (YOUNG DRIVER INTERVIEW - f1-upcomingstarss Webseite! (youngdriversmonthly.com)).According to the F2 website he stopped karting in 2017 and in 2018 he raced in championnat De France F4 but because he was only 15 at the time he was ineligible for the main championship. He did however manage to score his first podium at the circuit de Nogaro after finishing second and third. He also raced in the French F4 championship junior where he was crowned champion. In 2019 he joined the Sauber junior team and raced in Formula 4 ADAC [ADAC Formula 4 explained] where he was also crowned champion.
2020 saw Théo join the Sauber driver academy and race in the FIA Formula 3 championship where he raced with ART Grand Prix with teammate Sebastian Fernandez where he placed 2nd in the championship. 2020 also saw Théo race in four Formula two races where he placed 26th in the championship. In 2021 he moved up into Formula 2 fully and continued to race for ART Grand Prix this time with Christian Lundgaard as his teammate. This season also saw Théo make history in F2 as he converted his pole at Monte Carlo into a victory becoming the championships youngest victor at aged just 17.He finished the season in 5th seven places higher than his teammate. In 2022 he stayed at ART this time with his new teammate Fredrik Vesti. That season seemed to go well for him as he placed second in the championship again 7 places higher than his teammate.
Going into 2023 Théo stayed with ART but Fred moved to Prema. Which gave us the amazing championship battle for last year's season. The season saw both of the drivers be on the podium and getting points or placing outside of the points. Going into the final race of the season there were 3 contenders, Théo Pourchaire, Fredrik Vesti and Ayumu Iwasa.For Iwasa to have any hope at the championship he needed a full score that weekend. Théo was currently leading the championship with 191 points and behind him was Vesti with a 25 point difference to Théo. Going into qualifying it seemed from the free practice results that Théo would be faster but after qualifying had ended he was starting 14th for both the sprint and the feature race. Iwasa qualified 5th so lost any chance at the championship. Vesti qualified 9th but because they do a reverse grid for the top 10 for the sprint race Vesti was starting 2nd on the grid. After overtaking Fittipaldi on lap 20 of 23 and stay ahead meant that Vesti had won the sprint and kept his championship dream alive as he closed the gap from Théo to 16 instead of 25.Going into the feature race and the championship decider for Vesti to win it he ideally would either need to finish 3rd with the fastest lap and Théo would need to finish 10th or higher. If Fred came 2nd Théo would need to finish 8th or higher or 9th with the fastest lap. If Fred came 2nd with the fastest lap Théo would need to finish 8th or higher, if Fred came 1st Théo would need 5th or higher and if Fred also got the fastest lap point Théo would need to finish 4th or higher. If Fred placed 3rd or lower Théo would be champion. After entering the final lap of the race the battle for Vesti to get third was go. He was in DRS range of Maloney but going into the exit of turn 9 the two touched wheels causing Maloney to spin which meant the Danish had managed to finish third. However he did not get the fastest lap so it meant that the 2023 FIA Formula 2 champion was none other than Théo Pourchaire.
After not being offered a seat in Formula 1 Théo has decided that for 2024 he will join super formula with team inpul. He also hopes to be in a formula 1 seat in 2025 as this year is when most of the drivers contracts end.
コメント