Felipe Drugovich says he was “very close” to replacing Lance Stroll for 2024 at Aston Martin — close enough that he re-signed as reserve and sat tight for two more seasons — only for the door to stay shut. Now, after three years in green overalls and zero F1 starts, the 2022 Formula 2 champion is taking the payoff: a full-time race seat with Andretti in Formula E for Season 12.
Back in 2023, the paddock noise around Stroll was loud. The Canadian had endured a bruising year alongside Fernando Alonso as Aston Martin surged early and then faded, and there were whispers he might step back at season’s end. Drugovich, the team’s highly rated reserve, kept himself ready. He’d already impressed in testing, and Aston had moved quickly to sign him to its development programme straight after his F2 title win.
According to Drugovich, those whispers translated into genuine conversations. Speaking on the Na Ponta dos Dedos podcast, he said there were real talks with then-team boss Mike Krack about him stepping up if a seat opened. He renewed for 2024 and 2025 believing it could happen — “not only hope,” as he put it — only for Aston’s status quo to hold firm. Stroll stayed, Alonso stayed, and Drugovich stayed… on the sidelines.
That’s the brutality of modern F1. Talent alone doesn’t crack the grid. Timing does, money does, and sometimes the family name does. Drugovich kept his head down through 2023 and 2024, did the simulator miles, showed up for the Friday call-ups, and waited. When the music stopped this summer, he decided to find his own chair.
Andretti’s Formula E programme offers him exactly that — a competitive seat, real racing, and a chance to build a career that isn’t dependent on someone else’s change of heart. It’s also not a bad place to land. Andretti know how to win in FE, and the series rewards drivers who can adapt quickly and think on their feet. Drugovich has done that before.
Here’s how Formula E welcomed him to the grid:
Welcome to the grid@FelipeDrugovich🇧🇷
The Brazilian joins@AndrettiFEfor Season 12!pic.twitter.com/EDUoWel06l
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE)September 24, 2025
For Aston Martin, very little changes. The team keeps continuity alongside Alonso, and Stroll continues his long run with the outfit owned by his father, Lawrence. Stability has value as the 2025 Formula One World Championship pushes into its middle phase, and Aston’s ambitions haven’t softened.
For Drugovich, it’s a full reset. He made it clear there’s no bitterness — more a sense of a chance missed by inches. He believed 2024 could be his break, and you can understand why: the timing looked right, the conversations were happening, and the contract renewals kept coming. In the end, nothing gave way.
There’s a bigger story here, too. The path from F2 champion to F1 racer has never been narrower. Unless a team is actively rebuilding, or a veteran decides they’ve had enough, openings are rare. In that environment, reserve roles can become purgatory. They keep a driver close — sometimes too close — and the promise of “next year” hangs just long enough to block other opportunities.
Drugovich has chosen movement over maybes. He’ll arrive in Formula E as one of the most credentialed rookies of the new season, with a point to prove and a clean slate to do it. If the F1 market shifts again down the line, he’ll be sharper for the racing laps he banked rather than the simulator hours he didn’t.
It’s not the storyline many expected when he wrapped up the F2 title with three rounds to spare in 2022. But it might yet be the right one. Plenty of careers have found their stride outside the F1 bubble, and FE is as unforgiving — and rewarding — as anything else at the top level. Drugovich knows the score. He waited. He watched. Now he’s going racing.
