Despite having high hopes, F2’s Théo Pourchaire endured a tough Friday in Silverstone, qualifying eighth while his rookie ART Grand Prix teammate Victor Martins took pole. The 19-year-old Frenchman exclusively told Feeder Series that the team’s race pace alongside the prospect of changeable weather for Saturday’s sprint race could lead to a twist in fortunes.

By Tyler Foster

Starting the day with eighth in practice, Pourchaire was unable to maximise the pace of his ART in a qualifying session affected by red flags. After the second red flag period, the session restarted with only enough time for two push laps. Unfortunately for Pourchaire, he wasn’t able to bring his car into the right window at a crucial time and had to accept eighth place despite being just 0.187 seconds away from pole.

“I felt good in the car. It was good to drive, but unfortunately it’s only P8 in the quali,” Pourchaire told Feeder Series after qualifying. “But it’s the tightest qualifying session of the year and since I’m in F2, basically. This is good for the show, but unfortunately, I’m on the wrong side of that. It’s okay, less than two tenths away from the pole.

“It was a big mess at the beginning of the lap, unfortunately, that cost me a lot of performance. I came into Turn 3 without warm brakes – rear brakes especially – and sector one was not good, so this is where I lost most of my time.”

I came into Turn 3 without warm brakes – rear brakes especially – and sector one was not good, so this is where I lost most of my time

Théo Pourchaire

The Sauber junior tried to take away positives from this outcome, with his focus firmly on Saturday, when he will start third for the sprint race. Though the team will need to have made adjustments to the car between Friday and Saturday’s running, he said he thought the race pace of his ART would be stronger than his qualifying pace.

“I’m not sad because it’s okay. I’m P8. I will start in front for the sprint race and I have a good chance to do a great result in the feature race because I know I’m quick. Everyone did a great lap time because it’s tight, but in the race, we can do the difference,” Pourchaire said.

“I felt a bit more stability, a bit more rear grip, which is something we need. We didn’t have that in Red Bull Ring and Barcelona.

“I think we are working overnight to make some changes on the car and we’ll try something for [the sprint race]. Probably it’ll rain, so it depends. We will not try anything stupid if the track conditions are not great, but if it’s dry, we will try something on the set-up for the feature race.”

The weather throughout the Silverstone weekend has been a significant talking point, with sunshine on Friday giving way to rain on Saturday, including in the F3 race in the morning. Pourchaire already experienced wet conditions at the circuit and said he would rely on his previous experience to make gains.

“Last year, the sprint race was already in the wet. It was not fully wet beginning at the beginning of the race, but then it was drying out. But it’s a nice track, dry or rain, and in the rain especially, you have more overtakes in F2. So if it rains, for sure, the race will be a bit better,” he said.

“It’s not an easy track, that’s for sure. I had the chance to have a bit of experience there in the rain condition with the sprint race last year. I will analyse a bit the race from last year, the data, and if the track conditions are similar, I will try to do the same because [the] sprint race last year was pretty good. So we will work hard for a good car tomorrow and I think we can do something good.”

Pourchaire’s championship rival and former ART teammate Frederik Vesti will start on pole for the Saturday sprint, with Hitech GP’s French rookie Isack Hadjar alongside the Dane on the front row.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency / ART Grand Prix