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Pourchaire in IndyCar: What does it mean for his work with Sauber?
- Ludo van Denderen
It will be a busy year for Théo Pourchaire. Sauber's 20-year-old test and reserve driver was confirmed last week as Arrow McLaren's new regular IndyCar driver (although he will have to give up his seat to Callum Ilott for the Indy 500). With 12 race weekends in America ahead, it would have been easy to imagine the Frenchman reducing his workload with the Swiss team. Sauber has updated GPblog about the situation.
After Pourchaire won the Formula 2 title in 2023, the search was on for where he could remain active as a driver this season. With Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou, Sauber already signed as drivers in Formula 1, they decided to put Pourchaire in Super Formula. The adventure in Japan came to an end after just one race. The IndyCar team of Arrow McLaren were looking for a replacement for the injured David Malukas and found Sauber's Frenchman.
In the first two races in the American racing class, Pourchaire made such a strong impression that Arrow McLaren decided to contract him for the rest of the season (barring the Indy 500). However, since some of the IndyCar races are on the same weekend as Formula 1 Grands Prix, that could have been a problem for Sauber.
Pourchaire continues to work for Sauber
It turns out not to be. The team reveals to GPblog that Pourchaire can continue his work at Sauber in full, although it will be scheduled around his commitments in IndyCar. The obvious option is for Zane Maloney, Sauber's second reserve, to act as the third driver when Pourchaire is in the United States.
Sauber's stance, by the way, is quite understandable. The team thinks it is important that Pourchaire gets mileage in an appealing class - and that is IndyCar - through which he can gain the necessary experience and perhaps, at some point, make the switch to their Formula 1 team.