Pourchaire can set F1 alight. Audi must give him the chance

“We had a long discussion,” then Alfa team boss Frederic Vasseur said of whether the team should have promoted him straight to F1 for 2022 (Zhou got the place instead).

“But the car is so complex and we have just six test days before the season, it means that it could have been, from my point of view, too risky, too challenging to do the step now.

“It’s much better to be focused on the championship in F2 next year, and we will see the future.”

Pourchaire remained in the second tier series for two more seasons, finishing second in 2022 and winning the title last year. Since then, he has criminally been left on the F1 sidelines – when he should have been there already.

After making his FP1 debut for Sauber (then called Alfa Romeo) at the 2022 US GP, Pourchaire made further appearances at Mexico and Abu Dhabi in 2023. When finally able to set a representative lap time in the latter due to issues in previous sessions, he acquitted himself well, setting a competitive time in comparison to other young drivers in the same session.

Away from F1 in 2024, Pourchaire endured a difficult Super Formula stint before being called into the lion’s den that is IndyCar.

The high-profile McLaren team needed a replacement for the injured David Malukas, and boss Zak Brown deemed Pourchaire up to the task.

The Frenchman repaid the faith immediately by finishing 11th out of 27 cars at Long Beach, one of the fastest and formidable street circuits in a championship many argue is the world’s most competitive.

His gregarious personality seemed to suit the series also: “Coming here to Long Beach without knowing the car, the track, and the team as well, the first time with the team, it’s an amazing performance,” Pourchaire said to Autosport.

“I learned so much during this race with all the pitstops and also we had one safety car and I could overtake a lot of cars. I enjoyed it a lot.”

However, it didn’t last long. After a handful of more promising displays, McLaren announced Pourchaire would finish the season with the team – and then a few weeks later changed its mind.

He was replaced by an even younger driver in Nolan Siegel – 19 to Pourchaire’s 21 – on a “long-term” deal. The implication being that Pourchaire had baulked at the suggestion of making his IndyCar McLaren association longer in favour of keeping his F1 dream alive.

And so he’s back in his reserve driver role for Sauber as it continues to plod through its current nadir, when he should be using his speed and dynamism to help it push through to the new Audi era.

In reality, Sauber’s conservatism has so far seriously hurt Pourchaire. By the law of the track it would be him in the seat, not the apparently well-funded Zhou Guanyu, who, while being solid, has shown nothing of Pourchaire’s prodigious talent.

The Frenchman has been on the outside looking into the F1 world when he could have been setting it alight instead, bringing the kind of excitement to the world championship that Bottas, Ricciardo, Zhou and a few others clearly don’t.

With the experienced Nico Hülkenberg onboard, Pourchaire could use 2025 as his Sauber learning year before the team goes full corporate branding with Audi in 2026, a ready-made future lead driver.

His current situation begs the question of why a team even invests so much in a hugely promising driver only to leave them on the shelf. To sell them on later, like a football club?

It doesn’t need to do this, but there are signs things could change. CEO Mattia Binotto rang the changes at Ferrari by bringing in 20-year-old Charles Leclerc with immediate success, while new team boss Jonathan Wheatley comes from a Red Bull structure which has a history of giving young drivers a chance.

Sauber has a star on its hands. It just needs to put him in the car.