Photo: Joe Skibinski
Reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire has said he left McLaren’s IndyCar squad “on amicable terms”, after being dropped by them a month ago.
McLaren signed David Malukas to drive its #6 car this year, but he fractured his hand in a mountain biking accident in February and after surgery was forced to sit out the start of the season. Callum Ilott and Pourchaire subsitituted for him through the first five races, then Pourchaire was signed in May for the rest of the season having impressed the team.
Just 40 days later it was announced he was being replaced by Indy Nxt race-winner Nolan Siegel, who had signed a long-term deal to keep him in the seat until at least the end of 2026.
Pourchaire did not speak to media immediately after being dropped, with his first public comment arriving in the form of a tweet two days later, which said: “I’m run by passion, hard work, dedication, god. I will be back.”
Having moved to Switzerland while racing in F2 so he could work more closely with the Sauber F1 team he is the reserve driver of, Pourchaire then moved to the USA once it was clear he would need to be there regularly for IndyCar, and he still has a flat there as he surveys future IndyCar opportunities.
Earlier this week the 20-year-old Frenchman conducted his first on-the-record interview since his departure with French magazine AUTOhebdo. He provided details about how his time at McLaren came to an end, the scale of his work with Sauber for the rest of this year and what he sees happening in his future.
Pourchaire then posted to social media again today with a more public statement, seeking to clarify some of the comments he had made in his interview.
“While I was surprised by Arrow McLaren’s decision to take me out of the car ahead of Laguna Seca, we ended on amicable terms. Sure, it’s dissapointing not to be racing with the team, but they’ve held up and respected all the areas of the contract, and Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO], Gavin [Ward, team principal] and Tony [Kanaan, sporting director], along with the rest of the team, have been fully supportive of me and my wish to get back into an Indy car or other racing,” said Pourchaire.
“I’m appreciative of the time I had with the team, there are no hard feelings, and I hope this help corrects the perception there’s been about the team and myself.”
Tony Kanaan quote tweeted the statement, adding: “Teddy, I would repeat out loud what we spoke on the phone today but we will keep between us and put the plan in action soon. 💪🏻👍🏻”