Theo Pourchaire rows back on ‘disgusted’ claim amid surprise McLaren return

It’s been a busy week for Theo Pourchaire. The former Formula 1 prospect was quoted as saying he was “disgusted” by the way Arrow McLaren replaced him with Nolan Siegel in IndyCar, then had to correct the record to say that he was “grossly misquoted.”

Now, Pourchaire will be racing with McLaren in Toronto when Arrow McLaren No. 7 driver Alexander Rossi suffered a broken finger in practice. Let’s break down this chaotic week.

Wednesday, 17 July: AUTOhebdo publishes Pourchaire interview

Earlier this week, French publication AUTOhebdo published a lengthy interview with Theo Pourchaire, where the 2023 Formula 2 champion was quoted sharing some strong thoughts about his brief association with the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team.

To start the 2024 season, Arrow McLaren had signed David Malukas to the No. 6 machine; however, a broken wrist saw Malukas fail to start a race as he recovered. Then, Malukas was altogether dropped from his contract.

Pourchaire had been one of the drivers to substitute for the injured Malukas, and after Malukas was dropped from the team, Pourchaire had been signed to take over for the rest of the season.

However, just before the Grand Prix of Laguna Seca, McLaren announced it had signed rookie Nolan Siegel for the remainder of 2024 — meaning Pourchaire was no longer part of the team.

“To be 100 per cent transparent, McLaren had signed me to a multi-year contract to drive with them in IndyCar,” Pourchaire was quoted as saying.

“And then, on the Tuesday morning before Laguna Seca, I learned from my manager that they had decided not to have me drive at Laguna Seca, as well as for the rest of the season.

“At first, I was very surprised, I didn’t understand, I thought it was fake. We had only signed a few weeks before. I was disgusted.

“The team ended up calling me for a minute, around 11am that same day, the day before my planned departure for Laguna Seca, to tell me that I was excluded from the program. They didn’t give me the specific reasons.”

It was a strong interview to give — but as it soon became clear, it perhaps wasn’t anything close to the truth.

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Thursday, 18 July: Pourchaire calls interview “grossly inaccurate”

Just one day after the Pourchaire interview was published in AUTOhebdo, Pourchaire took to social media to refute the quotes that had been published.

“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 X.

“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], Gavin [Ward] and Tony [Kanaan], along with the rest of the team, have been fully supportive of me and my wish to get back into an 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 helps correct the perception there’s been about the team and myself.”

Saturday, 20 July: Pourchaire is back at Arrow McLaren

In Friday practice for IndyCar’s Toronto Grand Prix, Alexander Rossi brought an end to the session when he clipped the tire barriers and crashed into the tire barrier with the left-front corner of his No. 7 Arrow McLaren.

It was a nasty crash; the suspension crumpled and snapped the front wing. As the car struck the barrier, the steering wheel also whipped out of Rossi’s hands before he could remove his hands from the wheel.

“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 statement from the team read.

“The incident resulted in a broken right thumb. Alexander will be unable to compete this weekend. Arrow McLaren will announce who will pilot the No. 7 Ryde Arrow McLaren Chevrolet the remainder of this weekend once confirmed.”

McLaren’s options for replacements are slim, especially with IndyCar making its only trip out of the country this weekend.

On Saturday morning, McLaren announced Rossi’s replacement: Theo Pourchaire.

“Theo will arrive to the track ahead of the qualifying session Saturday afternoon, missing Practice 2 as he travels to Toronto from Europe,” a McLaren statement read.

“Alexander has returned to Indianapolis to begin his treatment and the team wishes him a quick recovery.”

A busy week for Pourchaire — but he’ll have another shot at the IndyCar series with Arrow McLaren.

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