Formula 1 rule for 2022 requires teams to field a rookie driver in at least two free practice sessions during the season. Hinwil's team has already decided on a name, but is having trouble finding a date
In order to comply with the Formula 1 sporting regulations for the 2022 season, Alfa Romeo is looking to add Théo Pourchaire to the first free practice session of a future round of the Formula 1 calendar. With the name defined, the problem is now to determine exactly where this session will take place.
According to the new rules, teams in the world's top auto racing category are obliged to field a rookie driver, "who may not have participated in more than two F1 GPs", in at least two TL1 sessions. A member of Sauber's Driver Academy, Pourchaire was Alfa Romeo's obvious choice.
"We will arrange a session, because by the regulations, you have to run with a rookie in free practice 1. But when we discuss this, you have to consider Formula 2 races, some events on our calendar with sprint racing, tire testing... and you can't consider filling the rookie session in Singapore, for example - even in Suzuka it would be difficult, even though Max (Verstappen) did it years ago. We don't have many races until the end, but we will find a solution - by the regulation, it is mandatory," said Frédéric Vasseur, team boss from Hinwil.
Pourchaire is currently third in the F2 table, behind Logan Sargeant and the leader, Brazilian Felipe Drugovich. As Vasseur mentioned, the Frenchman still has six rounds of the category ahead of him - and they will all be contested, as always, alongside F1. The remaining dates include races in Singapore, Japan, the United States, Mexico, and Brazil.
Also about young drivers, the Alfa Romeo boss talked about Guanyu Zhou's performance in 2022. According to Vasseur, the internal mood is one of surprise - good, of course - about the performance level of the Chinese driver.
"The first goal was to get to Q2. He achieved that in the first race, scored points in the first race, and now, at the mid-season mark, he has made it to Q3 twice in a row and managed to overtake Valtteri (Bottas) in qualifying," he said.
"He scored points again in Montreal, and we had some reliability problems, but he would be able to score points two or three times before. I am more than satisfied with the results and Zhou's behavior in the car. He was the perfect choice," Vasseur finally concluded.