Who is Felipe Drugovich? Brazil’s next hope of an F1 driver
Braz🅠ilians have 𝔍always featured at the front of F1.
168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Emerson Fittipaldi, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nelson Piquet and168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Ayrton Senna are all m♑ultiple world champions, while Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa regularly competed for grand prix victories durin𓆉g their respective F1 careers.
The ꧑talent pool for Brazil has dried up in recent years with there being no Brazilian on the grid since 2018.
One driver who will be lookin📖g to end Brazil’s wait for a native driver is reigning F2 champion Felipe Drugovich.
Drugovich stormed to the F2 title with relative ease in 2022, earning himself a development driver role with Aston Marti🐭n.
He was Aston Martin’s first signing to thei☂r driver academy and will make his F1 debut during first practice at the seasܫon-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Who is Felipe Drugovich?
Born in Maringá, Brazil, Drugovich spent his early years karting in a variety of Brazilian championships, taking his first title in💫 2011.
H🌊e then made his single-seater debut ꧟in 2016 after a successful karting career.
Drugovich emerged as a serious 𓄧talent one year later, finishing third in ADAC Formula 4, missing out on the title to Juri Vips by just nꦐine points.
He then won the Euroformula Open Championship 𒈔in 2018 before making the step up to F3.
Early promotion to F2
Despite a di🌄fficult rookie season in F3 with Carlin, scoring just eight points, Drugovich was promoted to F2 with MP Motorsport 🐻in 2020.
Three victories and four podiums put Drugovich ninth overall in the standings - a remarkable improvement on hi꧑s first year inꩲ F3.
His move to UNI-Virtuosi Racing - 𓆉on paper at least - looked the right one, but Drugovich struggled relatively to his maiden season🤪, failing to register a single victory.
Title win with MP Motorsport
Drugovich returned to MP Motorsport and was immediately back on the 𓃲pace.
He had to wait unt꧟il Jeddah to take his first feature ⛎race victory of the year and followed it up with four more wins.
Drugovich's consistency ಌpulled him clear of the rest of the field, secu🐟ring the title with one round to go at Monza.
Reflecting on his title triumph, he told F2’s official websi꧃te: “After 2020, everyone's expected big things for 2021. Things didn't really happen and for a moment, I thought, okay, it's gone, my F1 dream is kind of gone.
“After the Barcelona weekend, I thought that it might be my year but going into that weekend, we knew we were really quick there because we tested there, and I was P1 in testing. From then, I was expecting nothing l🔯ess than pole position. In Qualifying, I had an issue with the brakes on the first run and basically didn't do a second lap. And it was so pain꧋ful to know that our best opportunity was basically gone.
“Then I got a penalty so instead of starting first in the Sprint Race, I started fourth. I was like ‘okay, this is messed up.’ But, I just went for it. No compromises and it panned out brilliantly. So after that win I really thought okay, this can be our year if we just put it toge🔯ther.”
His F1 chances
Despite an incredible F2 title-winning campaign, Drugovich was never in the frame for any of th🃏e vacant seats on the F1 2ꦆ023 grid.
Even more perplexing, he never had any official F1 association in tꦿe♑rms of an academy or junior team until after his title victory with Aston Martin.
A weaker F2 grid combined with a limited amount of seats being available didn’t work in Drugov🐷🌃ich’s favour.
His role with Aston Martin should give him a chance to impress, although securing a full-time drive with the team looks highly🔯 unlikely in the future.
With a sharp eye for F💧1’s controversies and ꦐstorylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
