FIA Formula 2’s first 2023 championship leader Theo Pourchaire says, “It’s been an amazing weekend,” after his dominant Feature Race victory for ART Grand Prix in Bahrain.

The Frenchman now leads the F2 championship by four points ahead of Ralph Boschung after he put together a stellar weekend for the French team.

Pourchaire is delighted with his efforts this weekend and thanked ART: “It’s been an amazing weekend. I need to give credit to my amazing team, ART Grand Prix. 

“They gave me the opportunity the drive in Formula 2 this year and also the Sauber Academy—big thanks to the Sauber Academy and to ART Grand Prix. 

“To all the people who worked with me, we took pole by seven and a half tenths and I won the Feature Race. The Sprint Race was good as well, it’s a very very good start.”

The 19-year-old remained calm and explained he didn’t want to over-celebrate with 13 rounds to go.

“It’s an amazing start, and it’s only one weekend done; there’s 13 to go, so I’m focused. 

“I don’t want to celebrate too much. It’s still a long way to go and I want to do a great season. I want to do my best, I will give my best and let’s see what we can do.”

Pourchaire won the Feature Race by a sizeable 19-second margin and even had time to look at the TV screens around the track.

“I was watching the screens [around the circuit] almost every lap… every two laps… and I was watching the screens, but at the end on the soft tyres I was managing a lot.”

The Sauber Academy driver is also very happy that he produced a clean weekend: “I could have driven a lot quicker, but the most important for me was to take care of the tyres just in case there was a Safety Car. 

“I’m very proud we had a clean weekend with no issues on the car. It’s very important for us, so I’m super happy.

“I had a lot of pressure coming into this weekend because you never know the real performance after the test but now I know I’m really fast and we have to keep working like this.”

Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd