F2 champ Pouchaire gets an Indycar seat at McLaren: 'A special opportunity'

Theo Pourchaire will race full-time in Indycar this season. The French 2023 Formula 2 champion has been filling in for the injured David Malukas for the past two races, but he will now be an Arrow McLaren driver for the remainder of this Indycar season. Despite this, the rookie will not be participating in the Indy 500.

Initially, the young Frenchman was lined up for Super Formula in Japan this year, but those plans have now changed drastically. Pourchaire showed his talent in his two Indycar appearances. On his debut, he received the distinction of 'mover of the race', finishing 11th.

For McLaren, this was enough to give him a full-time chance in Indycar. Gavin Ward, team boss at Pouchaire's new team, commented, "We look forward to continuing our partnership with Theo. He has proven himself to be a quick learner and we assume he will only get better as time goes on. The important thing is that he soon translates the things he learns into good results."

The 20-year-old is delighted with his new gig. "Indycar is a great racing class that guarantees great races. This is a special opportunity and I will do everything I can to learn and get faster every race. I enjoyed my first two races and I am sure there is a lot more to come." It is not yet known who will replace the Frenchman for the Indy 500 later on this month.

This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon.