Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Alfa Romeo Racing team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi has revealed that Theo Pourchaire may have a “racing programme” in 2024 alongside his Formula 1 reserve driver role.
Pourchaire leads the Formula 2 standings with one round to go, and is a long-time junior of the Sauber outfit that runs Alfa Romeo’s F1 entry. He became the team’s official test driver last year, was promoted to reserve driver status for 2023 and will retain that role next year after Alfa Romeo opted to keep its current driver line-up.
If Pourchaire wins the F2 title, the rules do not permit him to race in the series again. But Alfa Romeo is working on ensuring he does not follow the last two F2 champions in spending a year on the sidelines.
“We are ready to make a deal,” said Alunni Bravi. “We are discussing together which will be the best racing programme for him to be ready to jump into the F1 car. No doors are closed for him in the future.
“We just felt that will be the best choice for the team, to keep our driver line-up also for next year and this doesn’t exclude any opportunity for him in the future. We have seen with Felipe Drugovich – maybe we have seen in the past that is not… with Piastri as well – that after one year in F2, if there is not actual chance to be a race driver, this doesn’t exclude the possibility for the team to appoint in the future. We just need to look at what is the best programme for him.
“We want him to stay close to the F1 team because this year we asked him to be fully focused in F2 and he’s doing well. I think and I hope that he will win the championship in Abu Dhabi. Maybe we can also see for him which will be the best to be ready and to be prepared.
“Let’s imagine that, compared to other teams, we don’t have an old car like Aston Martin, like McLaren, or Mercedes to do a proper testing programme for a driver – and this is a big limitation – maybe this will be available for him next year. We are discussing internally; of course budget-wise this is something that for a team is quite expensive but we want to see all the opportunities but for a driver like him, the doors are open. We just need to see the best programme to be ready.”
Pourchaire will drive Alfa Romeo’s current F1 car in practice sessions later this year so the team meets the rule requirement to run ‘young drivers’ in at least two sessions.
“We are looking at the best options,” Alunni Bravi added. “The second part of the season we have still a sprint format weekend or new circuits like Qatar and Las Vegas, so opportunities are quite few but we think that we are targeting Mexico and Abu Dhabi. So we will decide in the next few weeks the best programme for him.”