Felipe Drugovich is a prime example of a talented driver arriving on the verge of Formula 1 at the wrong time for him to find a seat.
A lot of drivers had success in their junior careers but couldn’t find a drive in F1 as there were limited options available.
This includes the top two drivers from the 2023 Formula 2 championship, Theo Pourchaire and Danish driver Frederik Vesti.
Drugovich is suffering the same fate after clinching the F2 title a year earlier, sitting on the sidelines, and not racing in a full season since.
The Brazilian driver is the reserve driver for the Aston Martin F1 Team. But his career has stalled and Peter Windsor explained on his own YouTube channel that he feels Drugovich should be racing.
Peter Windsor ‘doesn’t know’ why Felipe Drugovich signed his contract with Aston Martin
Drugovich dominated the Formula 2 championship in 2022, taking the title by 101 points over his nearest rival, Pourchaire, for the biggest winning margin in the series’ history.
The Brazilian driver drove brilliantly over the season, taking five victories and staying out of trouble over the year.
At some events, he was the class of the field all weekend, taking two victories at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as well as setting the fastest lap in the Sprint Race.
Since his junior career came to an end, Drugovich became the reserve driver at Aston Martin, a role that hasn’t progressed his career.
Windsor explained that Drugovich isn’t maximising his career and his FP1 appearance in Mexico City is likely to mean very little.
He said: “There are a lot of young guys out there, massively talented, some of whom are given the right opportunity at the right time, some of whom are not.
“Felipe Drugovich is still a very good example, I think, of a guy. To some extent, he’s his own worst enemy because I don’t know why he signed that Aston Martin deal when he did.
“I said at the time, I just can’t see how this is going to advance his career at all. On the contrary, it’s probably going to set him backwards. I stand by that. I know he’s driving the FP1 session in Mexico for Aston Martin, but so what? He’s not going to be racing next year.”
Felipe Drugovich has been exploring IndyCar ahead of 2025
Drugovich is now unlikely to find a full-time seat in Formula 1 as there are limited seats left for next season. He has been looking at IndyCar, which is a championship where some young drivers racing in Europe have succeeded.
The Brazilian driver drove in multiple tests and Drugovich is studying IndyCar ahead of next season while F1 continues to be a closed shop.
Other drivers, such as Callum Ilott and Christian Lundgaard, have proven they can be competitive in IndyCar after failing to find a seat in F1.