Theo Pourchaire has expressed his "hurt" after being rejected for an F1 race seat despite winning the F2 championship.
Sauber protege Pourchaire failed to secure a seat with the team for the 2024 season as reigning champion, with Zhou Guanyu being kept on for a third season.
The Frenchman was unable to secure a berth with another team, and instead headed to Super Formula in Japan and IndyCar in the United States, although McLaren jettisoned him after a handful of races.
Pourchaire remains on the books of Sauber as it continues to prepare for Audi's arrival, but it appears Valtteri Bottas will be retained to partner new arrival Nico Hulkenberg in 2025.
Discussing being overlooked, Pourchaire, once tipped as the next big hope of French motorsport, feels it is tough to see other drivers in F2 being looked at for promotion.
"It is tough because I won the F2 [championship] which is the last step before F1," he explained to the Speed Steet podcast, hosted by IndyCar racer Conor Daly.
"Everybody is looking at the Formula 2 drivers in the F1 paddock, which ones are going to drive in F1 for the next few years.
"But I felt like I was considered, but not that much, and that hurts quite a lot.
"I think the door is not closed yet, but you know, it’s Formula 1, you never know what can happen in the Formula 1 world.
"You see crazy things happening, so I still believe I probably deserve a chance, at least a chance just to show myself.
“I’ve been in talks with some other teams, mainly looking forward to next season. Because if I don’t have an opportunity in Formula 1, IndyCar is really something I want to do."
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Where it went wrong for Pourchaire
Pourchaire had a glistening junior career, winning the ADAC Formula 4 title in 2019, defeating Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger to the crown.
He was then pipped by Oscar Piastri for the FIA F3 title in 2020 in the Mugello season-finale, but stepped up to F2, finishing fifth with two wins, including the Monaco feature as Piastri made it two titles in two years.
For 2022, he was expected to be champion, but was defeated by Felipe Drugovich, going onto win the crown at the third attempt in '23, but against a comparatively weaker field than other recent champions had faced.
Zhou was kept on by Stake, with Pourchaire handed some testing opportunities, but the Frenchman could not secure a seat elsewhere with a rival team.
He was sent out to Super Formula and IndyCar as the F1 door appears to have closed on the driver never quite in the right place at the right time.
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In the latest episode of the RacingNews365 podcast, Nick, Sam and Ian look back on the first half of the 2024 F1 season. Their favourite moments are discussed, as is Lewis Hamilton's recent return to form. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris' title fight is also assessed.
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