Alfa Romeo protégé Theo Pourchaire will undertake a second season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship next year, but will also have a few FP1 outings in F1 to look forward to.
The impressive 18-year-old French driver, who tested for Alfa earlier this year, was cited as a possible candidate for a seat with the Swiss outfit in F1 in 2022, but Guanyu Zhou's nomination as Antonio Giovinazzi's replacement at the Hinwil squad put an end to the speculation.
"Theo will stay in F2, we had a long discussion the last couple of weeks," said Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur.
"He did a fantastic season in F2 for the first [season], but we also have to keep in mind that 18 months ago, he was in F4.
"The step between F4 and F3 was huge and he did well in F3. The same for the F2, he won this season in Monaco."
©AlfaRomeo
While there are precedents in F1 where a teenager was promoted to the big time, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris or Lance Stroll come to mind, Vasseur believes that pushing Pourchaire up so soon to the pinnacle of motorsport would have been a risky proposition.
"The car is so complex, we have just six test days before the season," explained the Frenchman. "It means it would’ve been too risky, too challenging to do the steps now.
"It’s much better to be focused on the championship in F2 next year and we’ll see in the future.
"Theo will for sure do some FP1s [in 2022], do some test days to try and prepare him for the future.
"But again, when you are doing the championship in F2, the most important thing is to win the championship and not to prepare the future or something like this.
"I will ask him to be champion in F2!"
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