Fittipaldi x Drugovich: Who will be the next Brazilian in F1?

The year 2022 was a good year for Brazilian motorsport. Even if the country will not have a representative in the Formula 1 grid in 2023, it seems that this is not far away from happening in the next years, maybe even in 2024.

Felipe Drugovich and Enzo Fittipaldi stood out in Formula 2 this season. While the first one became champion in a relatively easy fashion and showing an excellent performance, the second one also got a lot of attention for having achieved good results in a car that is far from being one of the best in the category. What are the chances of seeing either of them in the Formula 1 grid in the next years?

Felipe Drugovich

The year 2022 was very successful for Felipe Drugovich. The Brazilian driver became Formula 2 champion with a 101-point lead over second-placed Theo Pourchaire, besides staying ahead of other well-known names also like Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant, who will be in Williams in 2023.

Drugovich's good performance caught everyone's attention, especially Aston Martin's. In 2023, the Brazilian will be a test driver and the first member of the British team's Young Driver Programme. For next season, Aston Martin will have Fernando Alonso - hired to replace the retired Vettel - and Lance Stroll as driver duo, and, besides Drugovich, Stoffel Vandoorne will also be a test driver for the team, although this does not interfere much in the Brazilian's future.

I consider that Felipe Drugovich's chances of reaching Formula 1 (as a starter) are a bit more complicated than Enzo's (who we will talk about next). Why? Let's consider that Fernando Alonso will stay two more years in the category; therefore, if we think like that, Drugovich wouldn't have a chance as a starter in the team during those years, as Lance Stroll doesn't seem to have the slightest chance of losing his position inside Aston Martin. Of course, we need to wait and see how the relationship between Alonso and Stroll will be, as many things can happen, but let's consider the "logical line" of reasoning.

Considering Alonso retires from Formula 1 after two more seasons, Drugovich has great chances to take the Spaniard's place and pair up with Stroll. For this, the Brazilian must show his value to the team during his time as a test driver - he needs to be fast and show that he can help the team in the simulator and the development of the car. Although Lawrence Stroll has always opted for more experienced drivers in recent years (Vettel and Alonso), it is entirely possible that the team owner will opt to put Drugovich alongside his son, considering that Lance will already be much more experienced and seen as a team leader alongside a rookie.

If we consider this sequence of events within Aston Martin, it is likely that Drugovich will only get a chance as a starter in the team in 2025. Of course, other things can happen, such as there is the possibility that seats become available in other teams in 2024, and some of those teams choose to sign the Brazilian - we know that in Formula 1 anything is possible.

Enzo Fittipaldi

Enzo Fittipaldi's situation seems to be a bit "easier". If we analyse all the circumstances, we can say that the Brazilian driver had an excellent season in Formula 2. Enzo finished the championship in the eighth position with 126 points. It sounds bad, but it isn't, if we consider that he had one of the weakest cars in the grid. To give you an idea, Charouz had 130 points in the championship, that is, the Brazilian was responsible for almost 100% of the team's score.

All the talent of the grandson of the two times world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, was noticed by none other than Helmut Marko. Red Bull announced during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend that Enzo had become the newest member of the Austrian team's Young Drivers Academy. This news brought a lot of hope for Brazilians, as under the wings of Red Bull an interesting path opens before the driver.

In 2023, Fittipaldi will race again in Formula 2, but, this time, for Carlin's team - one of the best in the grid, which will give the Brazilian the chance to dispute the category's title. If Enzo wins the Formula 2 championship in 2023, there is a great chance that he will be on the Formula 1 grid in 2024 - in this case, not with Red Bull, but with AlphaTauri.

We all know that Red Bull is suffering from a certain lack of talent from the drivers who are members of its Academy. For instance, after Gasly's departure to Alpine, Red Bull had to go after De Vries to fill the vacancy left by the French driver. The Dutchman, who was at Mercedes and was never even part of the Red Bull Programme, is coming to AlphaTauri to team up with Tsunoda, and his contract is for one year only. On the other side of the garage, Tsunoda is a driver with ups and downs and has never really convinced. The Japanese rider has the sponsorship of Honda, which weighs heavily in his favour, but that does not guarantee his continuity in the team if he does not have better results in 2023. Like De Vries, Tsunoda's contract is only valid until the end of next season, meaning that theoretically two spots would be available at AlphaTauri for the 2024 season.

Therefore, it is extremely important that Enzo achieves good results in 2023, which would greatly increase his chances of taking one of the spots in Red Bull's sister team. Besides the Brazilian, there are other Red Bull drivers who are eyeing a spot in Formula 1, the main one being Liam Lawson. We still don't know much about the deal involving Ricciardo and the team, to know if the driver will be involved only in the marketing commitments or if he was promised some grid position in 2024 - which doesn't seem to be the case, as Christian Horner himself has already denied that possibility.

We can only hope

As one of the most successful countries in Formula 1 history, it would be great to see a Brazilian driver on the grid again. The last one to race in the category was Felipe Massa in 2017. Although a lot of things in Formula 1 change quickly and are not as we think, it seems very likely that we will have Enzo Fittipaldi and Felipe Drugovich in the category in the coming years.