‘Disgust’ has been expressed by former Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire at McLaren’s handling of his abrupt exit from IndyCar this summer. Pourchaire was awarded a multi-year contract after making a strong IndyCar debut at Long Beach earlier this year.
Pourchaire, however, was told last month that he would not be staying with McLaren’s team. After reaching a decision to sign American emerging player Nolan Siegel to a multi-year contract, the organization reportedly called Pourchaire for a quick one-minute conversation to inform him of the signing.
Pourchaire told Auto Hebdo, “To be really honest, McLaren had given me a multi-year contract to drive IndyCar for them. My manager then informed me that I would not be driving in Laguna Seca for the remainder of the season, on the Tuesday morning prior to the race.”
“At first, I was shocked, confused, and believed it to be a hoax. It was only a few weeks prior when we signed. I felt repulsed. The day before I was supposed to leave for Laguna Seca, the team called me for a minute at around 11 am to inform me that I had been dropped from the program. They withheld from me the precise reasons.
Tony Kanaan, sports director of McLaren, told Motorsport.com that the decision to fire a driver was solely based on business. “He didn’t do anything wrong,” Kanaan stated. It was merely a circumstance. We needed to make that call. It wasn’t intimate. It has nothing to do with his performance. He has taken all reasonable action. Though unhappy, he was perceptive.”
The team conflicts from the previous year, especially those involving lead driver Alex Palou, were also discussed by Kanaan. He stated: “It began last year with that guy [Palou] that opted not to come here and breach his contract.
After that, we chose continuity, and I’ve been through a long six months. I never signed up to be required to select four drivers. And then, since we needed to decide quickly, several of our options already had schedules.
“You people out there change race vehicles all the time, I reminded them. You enter, and you alter things. We’re here, not that we want to do that with drivers. I want to win races using this. That’s all that matters to me. After that, I believe we search for continuity at some point.”
Pourchaire will be Sauber’s reserve in 2024 despite his strong F2 season in 2023; Sauber representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi supports the team’s decision to stick with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
“We cannot be happy, mainly because Theo has lost the opportunity to have a strong racing program,” Bravi regretfully admitted to Autosport. This is a common occurrence in motorsports; McLaren is not to blame.”