Written by Archie O’Reilly
Only four races after unexpectedly departing the team after only five races, Theo Pourchaire is to return to IndyCar with Arrow McLaren in place of Alexander Rossi in Arrow McLaren’s No.7 Chevy for the remainder of the Toronto weekend.
This comes after Rossi suffered a broken right thumb in a practice crash on Friday as he went deep into Turn 8 in the final 10-minute group phase of the practice session. Committed to making the corner, he lost grip and clipped the tyre barrier, causing his steering wheel to snap with his hands still holding onto it and injuring Rossi’s thumb.
“First of all, I’m very thankful for all the men and women on the IndyCar medical team and for all the great work they do,” Rossi said, as per IndyCar. “I do have a broken right thumb. It’s unfortunate because the injury occurred when I almost made it around the corner and I didn’t want to give up on it, so I didn’t quite get my hands off the wheel in time.
“However, everyone seems optimistic about the kind of injury it is. We’re going to take the next steps here and get ready for Gateway.”
The front-left corner of Rossi’s machine was heavily damaged in the incident, compounding the late-race damage suffered at Iowa Speedway last weekend as Sting Ray Robb’s No.41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy vaulted over Rossi’s slowing, out-of-fuel car.
“Following an incident that resulted in contact with the Turn 8 wall during Practice 1 of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Grand Prix, Alexander Rossi was seen and released by IndyCar medical,” a team statement read. “The incident resulted in a broken right thumb. Alexander will be unable to compete this weekend.”
Rossi has now returned to Indianapolis to begin his treatment, a team update confirmed on Saturday. A three-weekend break follows Toronto before the World Wide Technology Raceway round, giving Rossi a period of recovery.
Despite having a few viable replacement options reportedly on the ground, Arrow McLaren have turned to a return for Pourchaire. He will miss second practice but arrive in time for qualifying - a challenge on yet another new track for the Frenchman - after being pictured in his native France on his Instagram story on Friday.
This news comes a matter of days after Pourchaire was portrayed to have made some significant claims in the French media, including about financial issues at Arrow McLaren, after his surprise exit from the team last month. There were suggestions that Pourchaire signed a multi-year deal that was not upheld as he was replaced by Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel.
Pourchaire has since responded to the reaction to his interview with French outlet AUTOhebdo, suggesting his comments were presented inaccurately. It is unclear how this wrong portrayal occurred.
“I’ve read the article published on AUTOhebdo this week, and I’m disappointed in how grossly inaccurate my words and comments portrayed my interview,” Pourchaire wrote on social media. “While I was surprised by Arrow McLaren’s decision to take me out of the car ahead of Laguna Seca, we ended on amicable terms.
“Sure, it’s disappointing not to be racing with the team, but they’ve held up and respected all areas of the contract, and Zak [Brown, CEO], Gavin [Ward, team principal] and Tony [Kanaan, sporting director], along with the rest of the team, have been fully supportive of me and my wish to get back into IndyCar or other racing.
“There’s no question on Arrow McLaren’s stability in its partnerships and their funding, so for AUTOhebdo to include that in my interview, it’s absolutely false. I’m appreciative of the time I had with the team, there are no hard feelings, and I hope this corrects the perception there’s been about the team and myself.”
Tony Kanaan, in his first complete season as sporting director at Arrow McLaren, has been said to be a big admirer of Pourchaire’s replacement Siegel. But he was also a clear supporter of Pourchaire during his ultimately brief stint with the team.
There have been several exchanges on X where Kanaan has shut down criticism of his actions relating to driver changes at Arrow McLaren. Upon Pourchaire’s statement being released, he said: “I would repeat out loud what we spoke on the phone today but we will keep between us and put the plan into action soon.”
It is not certain what that plan is, albeit it will not have been Pourchaire replacing an injured driver in the sister No.7 Chevy to the No.6 entry that Pourchaire piloted previously. Kanaan also said “at the end of the day the truth always comes out” and added that it is “only a matter of time”.
Speaking during Friday practice on Peacock, Kanaan confirmed there was an out-clause of sorts in Pourchaire’s deal that could be activated amid the Sauber Formula 1 team, for whom Pourchaire is a reserve driver, still having control over him.
There were no performance concerns in the early stages of the reigning Formula 2 champion’s IndyCar career, hence the shock of his release. He finished 11th on debut on the streets of Long Beach and notched a first top-10 finish in his penultimate race in Detroit having out-qualified both Arrow McLaren teammates to start seventh.
At the time of his sudden dismissal, which came shortly after he had tweeted his excitement about racing at Laguna Seca for the first time, Pourchaire was third in the Rookie of the Year standings despite having missed two races.
Pourchaire’s one-off return to the team marks the latest twist in a tumultuous and quite inexplicable season of driver changes for Arrow McLaren.
Alex Palou was initially going to drive the No.6 Chevy before deciding to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing. Then it was planned to be David Malukas until complications with a pre-season wrist injury. Callum Ilott and Pourchaire deputised until Malukas was eventually released, at which point Pourchaire was supposed to complete the season.
It was only two races into Pourchaire’s confirmed rest-of-the-season stint that he was replaced by Siegel, despite efforts such as a maiden oval test being put into his development. But now Rossi being sidelined - ahead of his exit from the team to make way for Christian Lundgaard in 2025 - has offered Pourchaire another IndyCar shot.
There will be four drivers in the Toronto field - Palou, Malukas (now at Meyer Shank Racing), Siegel (actually in the No.6) and Pourchaire (supposedly signed to a multi-year deal in the No.6, only to leave the team and return in the No.7 weeks later) - at some point signed to drive the No.6 Chevy in 2024.
This is the second in-weekend driver switch due to a physical issue in as many events after Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey stepped aside for the second race at Iowa due to neck and back pain.
Comments