Felipe Drugovich enjoyed a superb junior career, winning the Formula 2 championship in 2022, but has since stalled.
Since dominating F2, the Brazilian hasn’t completed an entire season in any category and has been embedded in the Aston Martin Formula 1 team as a reserve driver.
Drugovich has been critical to the Silverstone team over the past couple of seasons, but a full-time race seat in F1 looks unlikely ahead of the 2025 season.
Other championships outside of Formula 1, such as IndyCar, have seen multiple drivers from in and around the F1 paddock race in the series.
Drugovich will also drive an IndyCar car for the first time with Chip Ganassi Racing in a test which could provide him with an opportunity to impress the team.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s managing director Mike Hull has told RACER that the team were pleased with Drugovich when they were introduced last season at Le Mans.
Mike Hull reveals Chip Ganassi Racing ‘were impressed’ with Felipe Drugovich at Le Mans
Drugovich has competed in a few events since winning the Formula 2 championship, racing four times in the European Le Mans Series, as well as being a test driver for Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E.
Keeping race sharp is vital, and the Brazilian driver’s lack of competitive action may mean it could take him a while to get up to speed. Chip Ganassi Racing are downsizing to three cars for 2025 in IndyCar, making a full-time race seat unlikely for Drugovich.
The IndyCar machine is a different prospect to the cars in junior formulae Drugovich raced earlier in his career, but there are some similarities to F2 such as the lack of power steering.
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Hull explained that Chip Ganassi Racing have wanted to give Drugovich a test for a long time and they have finally got approval for the test to go ahead.
He said: “We’ve received approval today from IndyCar to test him. With the way IndyCar has the testing rules structured to test and evaluate drivers, it made sense to connect with Felipe and get him in one of our cars.
“We wanted to test him a year ago and we’re catching up on that. Indirectly, we were introduced to Drugovich last year at Le Mans and were impressed with him up close and personal. We want to get to know him and we think it’s worth doing.”
IndyCar may be a good next step in Felipe Drugovich’s career
IndyCar is a very difficult championship with a good level of competition in the field as well as the unique aspect of ovals.
Other young drivers who have raced in Formula 1’s junior ladder, such as Callum Ilott and Christian Lundgaard, have switched to IndyCar.
Ovals can be daunting at first, with Marcus Armstrong undertaking a partial campaign when he first moved to IndyCar in 2023 purely to learn road and street circuits without the complication of ovals.
But outside of Formula 1, IndyCar is the highest level of single-seater racing and Drugovich may have the talent to compete at the sharp end of the field.