Théo Pourchaire has the potential to become Formula One world champion. However, Jukka Mildh reminds us of the challenges of promising young people.
Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc. George Russell. In the past seven years, several top talents have entered Formula One, who have cleared a place at the top of the series.
Ferrari’s latest World Drivers’ Champion Kimi Raikkonen ended his career last season and a four-time World Cup winner Sebastian Vettel hang up the Driving Gloves after this season. Lasting successes Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso too did not shine as fixed stars of the series for long.
F1 needs new superstars alongside the current young stars. One potential future name is the 18-year-old Frenchman Theo Pourchaire.
There are different routes to Formula 1. Pourchaire’s route is that he does everything at a really young age. The Formula 2 series is the last small category of formulas before the Formula Ones. Last year, Pourchaire became the youngest race winner in the F2 series at the age of 17. He was a promising fifth in his debut season.
It says something about Pourchaire, the Frenchman is also the youngest driver in the series this season, although he has a total of four wins. The youngster, who has won twice this season, is second in the World Championship by Felipe Drugovich after. The world championship is also still possible when there are still several race weekends left in the season.
He debuted in the F3 series at the age of 16 and was immediately second in the World Championship.
Pourchaire may become very familiar to Finns in the near future. He might be driving an Alfa Romeo Valtteri Bottas the next teammate.
Potential
Many top prospects are academy drivers of big organizations like Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes. Pourchaire, on the other hand, is a junior driver for Alfa Romeo’s predecessor, Sauber.
With Sauber, Pourchaire has a strong connection to Alfa Romeo. He already tested Alfa Romeo’s F1 car last year. Pourchaire’s development has been on the rise for a long time.
If and when Pourchaire makes his series debut as a race driver, he will likely do so in an Alfa Romeo. Bottas’ contract with Alfa Romeo runs until 2024. So it is likely that Bottas and Pourchaire will be seen as team mates sooner or later.
Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildhin however, it might not happen next season. This season, Alfa Romeo’s second driver has been driven by a successful driver Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese has improved his grip after a difficult start, and in the last races, Zhou has actually been as fast as Bottas, who is driving in his tenth season.
Zhou is best remembered for his violent exit at Silverstone. He has driven well after the big crash, which Mildh thinks has convinced the team. Zhou’s current contract expires this season.
– I don’t think that Alfa Romeo will change drivers easily. Zhou also brings a lot of money to the stable, Mildh reminds.
However, Mildh trusts Pourchaire. Alfa Romeo team manager with Fredrik Vasseur has a history of raising highly promising drivers to Formula 1. This was the case in 2018, for example, when Charles Leclerc drove his first season in F1 with Sauber at the time. Leclerc convinced immediately and immediately joined Ferrari for the next season.
The French Vasseur has been assisted by a top manager Nicholas Todt.
– They haven’t gone very wrong in their driver evaluations. I see Pourchaire as one such name of the future. He has such a good background through Alfa Romeo. I believe there will be a place for him in F1, but it’s a different matter because it will happen, says Mildh.
The story continues after the pictures
Motorsports country
France is one of the biggest motorsport countries in the world. A good example of this is, among others Sébastien Loeb and by Sébastien Ogier success in the World Rally Championship.
France also has good traditions regarding formulas. Four-time world champion Alain Prost is one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time.
Prost won his last world championship in 1993. Since then, France has had By Jean Ales such talented drivers, but the world championship has eluded the French drivers from afar.
In recent years, however, better practices have been seen from French drivers. About Pierre Gasly two years ago became the first French driver to reach the stage in 24 years. Just last year there was a continuation, when Gasly’s peer Esteban Ocon achieved his opening victory in Hungary.
On the other hand, Pourchaire, who has achieved a lot for his young age, has the same characteristics as, for example, Leclerc and Verstappen. He has climbed up from the junior classes.
According to Mildh, Pourchaire belongs to the same caste as the reigning F2 world champion, an Australian Oscar Piastri with. Piastr’s manager is a former F1 driver Mark Webber.
– Yes, it can be found in these names (future world champion). However, it is not only about skills, but also about the stable.
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