Felipe Drugovich

Biography of F1 driver Felipe Drugovich

The 22-year-old driver is known as a rising star in the pinnacle of motorsport. After successes in various junior categories, he crowned himself champion at the penultimate round of the F2 season in 2022. Two days later, Drugovich was announced as the first member of the AMF1 Driver Development Programme, Aston Martin F1's official training programme. He has also been reserve driver for the British racing team since then. Drugovich made his official debut in Formula 1 during the first free practice session of the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

During F1 testing in Bahrain in 2023, Drugovich stepped into the AMR23. He replaced Lance Stroll, who missed the testing programmes in the desert due to a cycling accident. You can read more about Felipe Drugovich's life on this page.

Early career of Felipe Drugovich

In May 2000, Drugovich was born in Maringá, Brazil. Felipe started karting at the age of eight. Until the age of 13 he raced in Brazil, from 2013 to 2015 he competed in international kart racing. He raced for top teams like ART Grand Prix and Kosmic Racing. On his website, Drugovich reports he comes from a real racing family. His uncles Sérgio Drugovich and Oswaldo Drugovich Jr. are also racing drivers. Little is known about Drugovich's parents. However, Felipe does have both Brazilian and Italian nationality.

In 2016, 'Drugo' switched to single seaters. The Brazilian made his debut in the German ADAC Formula 4 championship. He achieved his first - and only - podium finish of the season in The Netherlands, at CM.com Circuit Zandvoort. During 2016/2017, the Aston Martin protégé also competed in the MRF Challenge in the Middle East. His highlight of the year was a win at the race in Dubai.

In the period that followed, Drugovich's career was on the rise. In 2017, the man from Maringá recorded seven wins(!) in the German ADAC Formula 4 Championship. He finished the championship in third place.

2018: two titels for Drugovich

The year 2018 was full of highlights for Drugovich: with ten wins, he became champion in the MRF Challenge. He also clinched the title in the Euroformula F3 Open Championship. He won no less than 14 out of 16 races. The remaining two races he finished second.

After a difficult season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019), the Brazilian got promoted to Formula 2 in 2020. He competed for the Dutch team MP Motorsport. He won three races during his debut season. The following year, he continued his career in F2. This time he competed for the Uni-Virtuosi team. Drugovich had a stable season and finished eighth in the standings.

Felipe Drugovich joins AMF1 Driver Development Programme

In 2022, the Brazilian driver returned to MP Motorsport. At the penultimate round of the championship at the Autodromo Nazionale Di Monza, Drugovich became champion. The same weekend, it was announced that he would become reserve driver for Aston Martin's F1 team. With this move, Felipe became the first driver to be part of Aston Martin's test programme, similar to the Ferrari Driver Academy and the Red Bull Junior Team.

F1 debut with Aston Martin

In November 2022, Drugovich stepped into an F1 car for the first time. The Brazilian tested the AMR21 at Silverstone Circuit, which earned him enough points to receive the FIA Super License. A month later, he stepped into an F1 car again. During the first free practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he took a seat in Lance Stroll's AMR22. Drugovich also drove several laps at the Yas Marina Circuit in the young driver tests after the end of the season.

At the start of 2023, Felipe Drugovich once again drove a Formula 1 car in the Middle East. Just before the start of the official F1 testing days in Bahrain, Aston Martin announced that Lance Stroll could not participate in the testing programme due to a cycling accident. Drugovich replaced him and, together with teammate Fernando Alonso, made the first metres with the AMR23. However, the first day of testing lasted only a short while for the Brazilian. Shortly after the Aston Martin protégé drove out of the pit lane, he had to retire the car due to an electrical problem. During the third day of testing in Bahrain, Drugovich got back in the car. He recorded 117 laps that day.

Felipe Drugovich, son of the dragon

The name Drugovich has a remarkable meaning. In a 2020 Formula 2 interview, Felipe explained more about it. "For those who don't know: 'Drugo' means dragon, 'Vich' means son. So my name is basically: son of a dragon. That is why the dragon is our family symbol."