Théo Pourchaire pulled together every second of his finite racing experience to drive a ‘perfect’ FIA Formula 2 Feature Race, in Monaco.

Following three Virtual Safety Cars and re-starts, plus Robert Shwartzman swarming all over the back of his car until the Russian’s unfortunate pit stop, Pourchaire had to pull every trick out of his bag to make, ‘zero mistakes’.

He described his experience:

“It sure was stressful, but the whole race was really stressful.

“It’s really difficult to stay concentrated at that stage of the race. My tyres were really, really cold and I knew I was going to lose a lot of time, but because of the Virtual Safety Car I could warm them up a bit.

He talked about the pressure of not being able to make a mistake in Monaco because the punishment of hitting a wall would be likely unrecoverable:

“The start was not so good, I was a bit scared. I wanted to stay in front because we all know that it’s almost impossible to overtake here. As soon as I was in front of him [Shwartzman] I was in free air, just pushing.

“It wasn’t easy with Robert right behind me. It was difficult mentally to stay concentrated. With a PREMA pushing you it’s not easy.

The ART GP car looks good this season, and the team will no doubt want to improve on their fifth place finish in the 2020 Teams’ Championship.

“The car was really good all the weekend. I knew that my goal was to just push, focus on my own race, and with this car I could try as fast as I wanted. It was amazing.

“I’m so happy to win.”

Making history this weekend, for being the youngest driver to win a Formula 2 race in the Principality, Pourchaire could be a surprise dark horse for the Championship title. Would you agree?

Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited