Shock Theo Pourchaire release explained as McLaren trace back to Alex Palou breach

Following the shock axing of Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren has moved to explain their “continuity” plan after a period that has been anything but, which they trace back to the Alex Palou saga.

McLaren called upon 2023 Formula 2 champion Pourchaire for what was set to be a one-off outing at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, but he excelled to the point where he was signed for the rest of the season, having been deputising for the injured David Maluka. But now Pourchaire is out too.

McLaren explain ‘continuity’ motive behind Theo Pourchaire axe

McLaren seized the chance to sign American racing hot prospect Nolan Siegel on a multi-year deal, at Pourchaire’s expense, making him the sixth driver associated to their No. 6 entry in less than a year.

However, the team’s sporting director, Tony Kanaan, winner of the 2013 edition Indy 500, stands firm that this call is the right one and pointed the finger at Palou as the source of this chopping and changing, the Spaniard having reneged on his deal to race with Arrow McLaren in 2024.

“It started back last year with that driver [Palou] that decided not to come over and breach his contract,” Kanaan said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

“Then we decided on continuity, and it’s been quite a few six months for me. I did not sign up to have to choose four drivers. And then every option we had, because we had to make a decision quick, a lot of them had schedules already.

“I just told the guys out there, ‘You change race cars all the time. You come in, you make a change.’ Not that we want to do that with drivers, but we’re here. I’m in this to win races. That’s all I care [about]. And then I think eventually we look for continuity. There is never a good time.”

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“Everybody’s going to say, ‘Oh, this is bad timing.’ What is a good time to do what we did? I don’t know when.

“I think today; some people agree, some people disagree. We’ll take the heat. We don’t take the heat. But to me, it’s the right decision. I believe that I’m making the right call with the team. I weigh in quite a bit because that’s what I’ve done for a living. I’m glad that my boss [McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown] trusts me on it. We have to just move on.

“We’re here trying to win races and it is a little bit of disruption, but racing is a disruption with everything else. So it’s just one more day in racing and we’ll move forward. Once we win a race, nobody’s going to remember.”

Kanaan stressed that Pourchaire’s performance – the Frenchman scoring a best result of P10 in Detroit – was not a factor in the decision and it was not “personal”, claiming it to be a decision which Pourchaire understood.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Kanaan confirmed, “it was just a situation.

“It was a call that we had to make. It wasn’t personal. It wasn’t because of his performance. He’s done whatever he could do. He wasn’t happy, but he understood.”

Pourchaire withdrew from the Super Formula series in order to take up the IndyCar opportunity with McLaren.

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