Theo Pourchaire Had The Most Terrible Luck During Mexico GP Practice

Posted on October 27, 2023 | by Charley Williams Watching Theo Pourchaire looking out from the Mexico GP pitlane at the F1 cars as they go by, knowing he didn’t even set a lap throughout his entire rookie FP1 session, shares parallels with leaving a sad puppy behind. Heartbreaking. Every team on the F1 grid must use two rookie drivers during two FP1 sessions over the season (one for each car) – except if you already have, or had, a rookie in your car this season as a full-time driver, they count too. Now that the season is slowly coming to an end, it’s time for regular drivers to sit on the sidelines and look on as the rookies take over. In Mexico, we were expecting five rookies out on track, but unfortunately for Theo Pourchaire, we only really saw four. Theo, who is currently leading the F2 championship, replaced Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo. Keen to show his potential to any future employers, he headed out onto the track – but it wasn’t long until he was back into the pits again. And again. And again. And then finally, out of the car. Every time he returned to the track after the team tried to solve the issue, he was called back in only a lap later. He only completed a total of four laps but wasn’t able to get an actual lap time on the board. After the session, Alfa Romeo confirmed that his session was affected by a brake issue on the car, so the team chose to wrap up early to investigate the problem thoroughly before Fp2 later this afternoon. Talking to the media after FP1, Theo said: “It’s motorsport, it can happen, and unfortunately, it’s happened when I’m in the car for the FP1, it’s a bit disappointing for sure because I prepared myself a lot, and you know, the last time I drove it was in Abu Dhabi last year, so was a long time ago.” Hopefully, he gets another chance this season!