Once a huge talent, now unemployed: How can Pourchaire move on?
General
- Ludo van Denderen
Early in the day, Théo Pourchaire had posted an enthusiastic post on his Instagram account. The upcoming IndyCar race at Laguna Seca; the Arrow McLaren Frenchman and reigning Formula 2 champion was looking forward to it, he announced. A few hours later, the post was gone after Zak Brown's team unexpectedly gave Pourchaire the sack. Barely a few weeks after he was appointed for the rest of the IndyCar season, Pourchaire was shown the exit door.
Another blow for the only 20-year-old driver, who had been predicted a golden future not so long ago. But Sauber decided not to give the youngster a seat in Formula 1 after his championship win in F2 last year, which meant Pourchaire sought refuge in the Japanese Super Formula championship. His first weekend there was not a success, but there was no chance of revenge. IndyCar team Arrow McLaren brought him in as a replacement for David Malukas.
Strange reasoning for Pourchaire's dismissal
Four races later, that adventure is over. The Frenchman only got the news himself shortly before Arrow McLaren announced that Nolan Siegel was replacing Pourchaire for the rest of the season. A completely unexpected decision for everyone, not least Pourchaire himself. Especially looking at the official reasons behind the decision. For instance, McLaren claims they are looking at the long term with a "young driver", who in reality is only 15 months younger than Pourchaire.
Pourchaire's CV is also a lot more impressive than Siegel's. So whereas the Frenchman became champion in Formula 2, Siegel never managed to do the same in the American counterpart Indy NXT. However, he did win the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend in the LMP2 class, with the United Autosport team co-owned by Zak Brown. Perhaps this was the deciding factor in giving the American a chance a few days later in the Arrow McLaren car, which he has never driven before.
What can Pourchaire do now?
It would be interesting to know why Arrow McLaren apparently see no future in Pourchaire? Perhaps the Frenchman has already signed with another team for '25, but no signs of that have been given. Is it then that Brown and consorts do not see qualities that would make him a top IndyCar driver? Strange, because in the first few weeks in the series, Pourchaire made a very nice impression. Or is the reason for the decision mainly financial? After all, Siegel is known to bring a decent pot of money, something Pourchaire cannot.
In any case, Pourchaire's career gets another dent: no place in Formula 1 and no place in IndyCar for the time being. So at the moment, the driver is no longer active in any series. Reportedly, though, there was latent interest from other IndyCar teams immediately after the Arrow McLaren decision. For Pourchaire, it is to be hoped that he will be able to join them in the near future - or at least next season.
If not, his career in single-seaters appears to be over before it has even started. In that case, the World Endurance Championship (WEC) is the most logical escape route, a championship in which there are more hypercars in 2025. Also nice, but not what Pourchaire was thinking about when he got his hands on the Formula 2 championship trophy in late '23.