The curious case of Felipe Drugovich’s reserve role and the Lance Stroll rumour

Michelle Foster
Lance Stroll and Felipe Drugovich

Lance Stroll has withdrawn from the Spanish GP

Pinning his hopes on an Aston Martin F1 race seat, Felipe Drugovich says there was “not only hope” that he would race in 2024 as “other drivers were, perhaps, not wanting to continue”.

“It was really very close to Lance [Stroll] himself, maybe not continuing in 2024, so it really was…,” he said.

Felipe Drugovich: All you need to know about the long-time reserve driver

⦁ Felipe Drugovich has spent three years as Aston Martin’s reserve driver
⦁ Brazilian believed there was a near ‘certain’ chance to replace Lance Stroll in 2024
⦁ Drugovich has quit Formula 1 to join Andretti in Formula E

Winning the Formula 2 championship in 2022 with MP Motorsport, and doing so with three races to spare, Drugovich was considered hot property, and even a potential future F1 World Champion.

Two days later, Aston Martin confirmed the Brazilian had join the team’s driver development programme and would also fill the role of reserve driver for the 2023 season.

But three years down the line, Drugovich is not only walking away from Aston Martin but from Formula 1 as a whole after signing with Andretti in Formula E.

It’s been a long wait to return to single-seater racing for the 25-year-old, one that he believed with near certainty would be a lot shorter.

Back in 2023, during Drugovich’s first season as Aston Martin’s reserve, there were rumours that Lance Stroll, the son of Aston’s billionaire owner Lawrence, was considering leaving the sport.

The Canadian was nearing the end of a trying season in which he was soundly beaten by his new teammate, Fernando Alonso, was the Spaniard wracked up eight podium results while Stroll managed a single P4 finish.

Stroll refuted that rumour, saying: “The plan is I’m staying next year.

“You know, it’s been a challenging season at times for sure. You know, some great highlights but also some really frustrating days of recent. But yeah, the plan is to keep going next year for sure.”

But according to Drugovich, that wasn’t always the plan.

According to the Brazilian, there was a genuine possibility that Stroll was going to quit Formula 1 at the end of the 2023 season, which would’ve opened the door for Drugovich to replace him.

Such was the reserve driver’s belief after his talks with then team boss Mike Krack, he re-signed with Aston Martin for 2024 and 2025.

Not only did Stroll not quit Formula 1 in 2024, next season the Canadian will contest his 10th season in the sport alongside Alonso at Aston Martin. Drugovich, meanwhile, is off to Formula E to race for Andretti.

“I renewed with them for 2024 and 2025, with a certain, not only hope, but there were, yes, talks, of me taking over in 2024, even with the team boss,” Drugovich explained on the Na Ponta dos Dedos podcast according to Motorsport.com.

“And there came a time when other drivers were, perhaps, not wanting to continue, anyway, it was really a time, like, that didn’t work out for me to enter 2023, and at the end of 2023, it was very clear that maybe it would work out to enter 2024.

“And that’s when people seemed to start shaking things up, they were going to have an opportunity and they put the contract in front of me to renew for 2024 and 2025.

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“And I said, ‘I’m in the right place, at the right time, let’s go’. And it seemed again, the right time, the right time. And I think it went much closer than everyone thought it did.

“It was really very close to Lance himself, maybe not continuing in 2024, so it really was…”.

“So nothing to judge against the circumstances, because I have nothing to do with it, and I also, if I were in their shoes, maybe I would do the same thing.”

“But, from my perspective, it’s really complicated, because I really thought it looked like, like, everything is opening up, everything is working out.

“They put the contract in front of me again for me to renew, because it’s going to happen and everything, and it turned out that it didn’t work and I got stuck in it, anyway.

“It is what it is, there’s not much for me to cry about right now.”

Read next: Lewis Hamilton ‘defeated’ as Danica Patrick makes blunt Ferrari observation

Aston Martin Felipe Drugovich Lance Stroll

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