Few drivers make it to Formula 1, but their odds of doing so skyrocket by being affiliated with an F1 team’s junior driver programme. This series explores the performances of driver academy members in 2023. Today’s spotlight: the Sauber Academy.

By Steven Walton

The four-person Sauber Academy had a memorable year in 2023. Three new members joined the roster; academy veteran Théo Pourchaire won the F2 championship at the third time of asking; and the academy’s first female driver, Léna Bühler, starred in F1 Academy.

Check out the e-book below to read all seven of the 2023 F1 driver academy reviews!

Théo Pourchaire (F2, P1)

The 20-year-old French driver, who joined Sauber in 2019 when it was the Sauber Junior Team and stayed on once it rebranded to an an academy, returned for his third full F2 season in 2023. He remained with the frontrunning ART Grand Prix squad and was always going to be a favourite for the title given he was the 2022 runner-up behind Felipe Drugovich.

Pourchaire won the 2023 F2 title thanks to an ultra-consistent season. He scored points at all rounds except Jeddah and Zandvoort. He was on pole in Sakhir and Monza and finished with 10 total podiums, tied with Frederik Vesti and teammate Victor Martins for the most in the series. Pourchaire only won a single race — the feature race in Sakhir — but he still beat his main rival Vesti in the championship because he picked up points regularly. Pourchaire’s efforts were also integral to ART Grand Prix’s victory in the teams’ championship too.

Despite winning the F2 crown, Pourchaire did not earn a promotion to the F1 grid for 2024, with Sauber instead opting to rehire Zhou Guanyu for a third season. Pourchaire has now confirmed he will race in Japan’s Super Formula series in 2024 with Team Impul.

Marcus Amand (FRECA, P18)

Seventeen-year-old French-Finnish driver Marcus Amand joined the Sauber Academy in February. After finishing ninth in Italian F4 in 2022, he stepped up to FRECA for 2023, racing with ART Grand Prix. Amand had a difficult time during the first half of the season, but he carved out some excellent results towards the end.

At the eighth round of the year in Monza, he qualified second for the first race and held that position throughout despite several incidents and safety car interruptions. Amand finished second on the road but didn’t get a podium because of a 10-second penalty for forcing rival Michael Belov off the road.

During the second race at the next round in Zandvoort, Amand took his maiden pole position. He held the lead at the start but was passed on lap three by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, this year’s FRECA champion. Still, amid damp conditions and a red flag, Amand held his nerve and came home second place, scoring his maiden podium.

Amand finished 2023 18th in the overall FRECA standings and fourth in the rookie standings, scoring 26 points from three points finishes.

Léna Bühler (F1 Academy, P2; F4 UAE, P33)

The 26-year-old Swiss driver joined the Sauber Academy in February this year, just as she wrapped up an F4 UAE campaign with R2Race. In that series, Bühler didn’t score any points and ended with a best finish of 15th. She had much more success later in the year, as she raced for ART Grand Prix in the inaugural season of F1 Academy, the all-female racing series using the Tatuus F4-T421 chassis.

Bühler was impressive in all seven F1 Academy rounds and finished second in the championship behind Marta García. Across 21 races, she scored 13 podiums, more than any other driver. Those podiums included a win in Barcelona and a win in the reverse-grid race in Monza. Aside from two retirements, Bühler finished in the points in every race.

Bühler ended the season with 222 points, significantly more than ART Grand Prix teammates Carrie Schreiner and Chloe Grant, who only scored 56 and 34 points respectively.

Taym Saleh (karting, various)

Fourteen-year-old German kart driver Taym Saleh joined the Sauber Academy in January and kept himself busy with several karting series in 2023.

His most successful outing was in the WSK Euro Series, in which he finished as the runner-up behind Martinese Iacopo. In the FIA Karting European Championship, Saleh finished 11th with 62 points.

Saleh also raced in the WSK Champions Cup in January, finishing third in the final in the OK Junior category. In October, he raced in the same category at the FIA Karting World Championship in Franciacorta, Italy. There, he started the final from fourth but retired on lap seven after a clash with Lewis Francis.

Header photo credit: Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake