Alfa Romeo Racing boss Frederic Vasseur says Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire is on track to race in F1 with the Swiss outfit at some point in the future.
The highly-rated 18-year-old French driver who finished second in last year's FIA Formula 3 championship, conquered his maiden win in Formula 2 in Monaco last spring.
Pourchaire was subsequently awarded an F1 test outing with Alfa Romeo which took place earlier this month at the Hungaroring with a 2019-spec car.
As a well-known discoverer of talent who mentored the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and more recently Charles Leclerc, Vasseur knows a gifted driver when he sees one.
And Vasseur is predicting a great future for Pourchaire, hopefully with Alfa Romeo, although the team boss doesn't yet know when the young charger will step up to F1.
©AlfaRomeo
"Considering for next year, I don’t know, but I’m considering Theo," said Vasseur. "I don’t know if it is for next year or the future.
"But Theo is part of the family, he is part of the [Sauber] Academy, we are spending a lot of energy on Theo because we are convinced Theo is one of the best ones for the future.
"Now, I don’t know if it will be ‘22, ‘23, ‘24, but I’m convinced that he, at one stage, will be one of the best ones."
Vasseur admitted to being surprised by Pourchaire's faculty to quickly adapt each year to a new category or environment.
"I was not a big fan [for him] to go directly to F3 after F4 because I thought the step was big, and the step is big, and you have less and less mileage in the junior series," said the Alfa boss.
"I was not very comfortable and he had a tough start to the season, but then he was very close to winning the championship.
"The step to F2 was huge and at the second event he was able to win in Monaco.
"He has the capacity to adapt himself to the situation very quickly, but we also have to speak about experience, and this you can’t buy it, you just have to test and race."
Vasseur made clear that he had no intention of fast-tracking the teenager's path to F1, insisting that Alfa Romeo doesn't need "to rush the situation" and that his F2 campaign currently remains Pourchaire's priority.
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