Who is Felipe Drugovich? Aston Martin F1 reserve driver will replace Alonso in Hungary
F1
Felipe Drugovich could be making his F1 race debut should Fernando Alonso not recover in time for the Hungarian GP. Get to know everything about the Brazilian's career here
Drugovich is ready to give up on Le Mans to race in F1
The 25 year-old will drive in the first Hungarian Grand Prix practice session, replacing Fernando Alonso who is managing a back injury. He will continue in the car for the rest of the weekend if Alonso’s symptoms persist.
“Fernando Alonso has been managing a muscular injury in his back,” said Aston Martin in a statement. “As he continues with treatment, he has chosen to sit out of FP1. Felipe Drugovich will drive in FP1 alongside Lance Stroll. A decision will then be made on Fernando’s participation in FP2 and the remainder of the weekend in due course.”
Drugovich won the Formula 2 championship in 2022 by a crushing margin, finishing the season with 265 points; 101 ahead of second-placed Theo Pourchaire.
Despite beating Liam Lawson, Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan that year, Drugovich has watched those drivers have their F1 chance while sitting on the sidelines ever since as Aston Martin’s reserve. While biding his time, he has made forays into sports car racing and Formula E,
Here is the story of Felipe Drugovich’s career so far.
Karting and single-seaters
Drugovich was born in 2000 into a family with deep motorsport roots: his uncles Sérgio Drugovich and Oswaldo Drugovich Jr were both racing drivers, achieving success in the Formula Truck series in Brazil.
Parana-born Drugovich began karting at the age of eight, quickly establishing himself as an up-and-coming talent in the Brazilian karting scene before moving to Europe to progress his career.
Drugovich’s transition to single-seater racing came in 2016 with Neuhauser Racing in Germany’s ADAC Formula 4 championship, where he secured a podium in his rookie season.
A young Drugovich in 2017
ADAC
The following year, he joined Van Amersfoort Racing and went on to win seven races and finish third in the championship standings, narrowly missing out on the title due to technical issues late in the season, suffering two retirements in the final two rounds.
He also competed in the Italian F4 and the MRF Challenge, winning the title in the latter’s 2017-18 edition.
2018 proved to be a breakthrough year for Drugovich, as he joined RP Motorsport in the Euroformula Open Championship, which he dominated with a massive 14 wins out of 16 races, clinching the title with two rounds to spare.
Also in 2018, the Brazilian added the Spanish F3 and MRF Challenge Formula 2000 titles to his resume, underlining his status as one of the most promising talents outside Formula 1.
In 2019, Drugovich stepped up to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Carlin, but that year proved to be a disappointment as the Brazilian scored only eight points and finished 16th in the standings.
That year, the FIA F3 series included drivers such as Robert Shwartzman, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, who all finished ahead of Drugovich.
F2 spell
Despite the disappointment of 2019, Drugovich found the financial support to move up to Formula 2 with MP Motorsport in 2020.
In the first round of the season at the Red Bull Ring, Drugovich scored his first F2 win in the sprint race. He added further victories in Barcelona and Bahrain to finish ninth in the standings in his rookie season.
For 2021, Drugovich switched to Virtuosi Racing, but his second year in F2 didn’t yield the results he hoped for.
Drugovish took the F2 title in his third year in the series
Getty Images
In a season dominated by future McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri, Drugovich finished eighth without any victories to his name.
The following year, however, represented a breakthrough for the Brazilian driver, who stayed in F2, reuniting with MP Motorsport.
Drugovich dominated the series that year, scoring five wins, including a rare double victory in both the feature and the sprint races in Barcelona.
He secured the title with three rounds to go and finished over 100 points ahead of second-placed Théo Pourchaire. That F2 season included future F1 drivers Liam Lawson, Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan.
F1 hopes
Despite dominating Formula 2 in 2022, Drugovich failed to secure a Formula 1 race seat for 2023, joining the Aston Martin F1 Driver Development Programme and being named the team’s reserve driver.
Drugovich has plenty of experience in the Aston Martin
Grand Prix Photo
He made his official Formula 1 debut in the first free practice session at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and participated in multiple testing and practice sessions throughout 2023 and 2024.
In 2023, the Brazilian came close to making his grand prix racing debut when Stroll got injured ahead of pre-season testing.
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Drugovich replaced the Canadian in testing, but Stroll made his return in time for the season-opening race, denying the Brazilian a chance to take part in an F1 race.
In 2025, Drugovich kept his reserve driver role at Aston Martin but has also returned to racing in sports cars, competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Whelen Cadillac. The Brazilian has also raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours for the past two years with the same team.
Drugovich also made his Formula E race debut in Berlin this year, deputising for Nyck de Vries at Mahindra Racing, with a best result of seventh.
