Theo Pourchaire came into the Formula 2 Championship in 2020 and he signed with the Sauber Academy. The racer was recruited as the reserve driver for Sauber’s F1 division – the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake – in 2022 and he also continued in the same in 2023. All this while, Pourchaire has been battling against the racers in F2 in hopes of getting a seat at the team in F1.
Sauber has nurtured the talent of Theo Pourchaire ever since his Formula 4 days, yet he is not even close to joining F1. Pourchaire alleges that they had given him a condition that if he won the FIA Formula 2 Championship, he would be promoted to the pinnacle of motorsports. But that has not happened despite Pourchaire becoming the Champion in F2’s 2023 season.
Pourchaire was present at the FIA Prize Giving Gala on December 8 in Baku. There, the 20-year-old was questioned about his chances of entry into Formula 1. Alfa Romeo already signed Valtteri Bottas for a contract that would last until 2024, but Guanyu Zhou’s time at the outfit came to an end in 2023. He extended his stay by one year as the team announcement the renewal of their agreement.
The Frenchman has clearly not been satisfied with Alfa Romeo’s treatment. Thus, he addressed the questions about his move into F1 by exposing the fake promises made by the Swiss team. As quoted by The Race, he said, “The goal that the Sauber Academy told me [to achieve in 2023] it was to win the Championship. And I did it.”
Alfa Romeo’ s string of underwhelming performances in 2023 has seen them finish second-last
Alfa Romeo’s start to 2023 saw Valtteri Bottas deliver a great performance while Guanyu Zhou finished in the bottom. Bottas’ top 10 finish did give some hope to the Swiss team but their development was rather underwhelming. Even teams like Williams and Alpha Tauri left Alfa Romeo behind as they scaled up the Championship Standings.
In the final few races of the season, Alfa Romeo comprehensively struggled to get into the points. At the Sao Paulo GP, both Bottas and Zhou could not even finish their race. And thus, Alfa Romeo ended up with 16 points to their name, getting the ninth place in the Championship Standings just above Haas.
Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas both had 22 starts in the recently-ended season. Zhou finished at the 17th spot on the Standings while Valtteri ended up in P15. Both of them have had 3 DNFs. While Zhou got 6 points in total, Bottas scored 10 points from the entire season.
As of now, Alfa Romeo is no more a partner of Sauber. Their Team Principal Alessandro Alunni Bravi said they will reveal a new name for the outfit in the upcoming days. And in 2026, they will be entering into a partnership with Audi.
