F2 leader Drugovich hopes to make his F1 debut later this season
F1 News
Felipe Drugovich is having a great year in Formula 2. The driver of the Dutch MP Motorsport team has already won four races - including the main race in Monaco last weekend - and is the undisputed leader in the championship. All signals appear to be green for a switch to Formula 1.
But unlike many competitors in Formula 2, the Brazilian currently does not have a contract with a Formula 1 team. He spoke exclusively about this to GPblog.
We are surprised about you not having an F1 contract.
A. “Yes, I am too (laughs). Of course, I had a few opportunities here and there. In a way, if you sign something, it does not give you any certainties, like doing an F1 test. Or if I sign for racing in F1. There wasn’t really a point to sign with a junior academy or something like that. Of course, now, maybe, it can be the option. Because they (talented drivers) are just going up if they are from academies; drivers or reserve drivers. In the past, there wasn’t a concrete opportunity that I really liked. So, we preferred to stay out of it, at least we were free and not stuck by any academy until now.”
You see it with Piastri, he is signed by Alpine and struggles to go anywhere.
“That is something what I mean. For him, I think it is a little bit too extreme. The guy won everything in F2. Come on, he needs to get a place up there. It is pretty much what I mean.”
Has anything changed this year? Are F1 teams knocking at your door all the time at the moment?
“No, no, they are not. But I think it is also quite early. They need to wait a little bit to see. But there are talks. And hopefully, we going to get some deal there.”
You could be a driver for a Friday morning session? Is that on your mind?
“Yeah, it is. Especially now it is mandatory for the teams. I think it is two FP1’s? So yeah, hopefully, I can get to drive a F1 there.”