Felipe Drugovich – Syndication Server

Drugovich hoping for more after first IndyCar test with Ganassi

Felipe Drugovich made a fast impression in his NTT IndyCar Series testing debut with Chip Ganassi Racing on Monday. The 24-year-old Brazilian fired around the rolling 15-turn Barber Motorsports Park road course with a best of 1m07.631s, which was a few tenths under the time set by Ganassi’s Alex Palou at a previous test with IndyCar’s hybrid engine package.

“It was a great day,” Drugovich, the 2022 Formula 2 champion and Aston Martin F1 test driver, told RACER. “Just getting to know the car, getting used to how the car feels, which is, I can say, pretty different to anything I’ve ever driven. Not in a bad way – it’s just quite different. The steering feel, and tires and engine. It took a few runs to get used to it, and the whole day went pretty well. In the afternoon, we went through more sets of tires just to get a few reads on some setup changes that they wanted to do, and everything went well. We managed to manage to test quite a few things, and I enjoyed it. That’s the most important thing.”

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The Ganassi team was impressed with Drugovich’s physical conditioning: the car’s high weight and high downforce, mixed with an absence of power steering, tends to leave first-time IndyCar testers physically exhausted.

“To be fair, I think we can put any driver in a Formula 4 car at Barber and they’re still going to be tired at the end of the day, so it’s, it’s a quite a physical track,” he said. “But yeah, it was a long time that I last drove a non-power steering car, and that gave me a hard time during the day. But obviously, we tried to stay prepared and ready for anything. So if one day I’ll be racing in IndyCar, I need to prepare a lot more there, but overall, there were no big issues. And obviously, having driven with Formula 1 quite a few times, my neck is quite okay, but here at Barber with his car, it’s very physical.”

Although Ganassi does not have any openings in its team for 2025, the squad used its last evaluation test day to get a feel for Drugovich’s pace and feedback.

“You never know when you’re when you’re going to have an opening, and you don’t always have a chance to test people when you do have an opening,” said Ganassi performance director Chris Simmons. “So it’s good to get this under our belts and keep Felipe in our contact list. And certainly, I think he showed the speed to be able to join the IndyCar Series in the future and do a real good job wherever he lands.”

Drugovich hasn’t done a lot of racing since completing his run to the 2022 F2 title. A seat with the Vector Sport European Le Mans Series LMP2 outfit has been a welcome development in 2024, as was another sports car outing at Le Mans with Cadillac in the Hypercar class, but the Brazilian has spent most of the last two seasons on the sidelines waiting for his next open-wheel racing opportunity.

Leaving Barber, Drugovich was a big fan of all he experienced in the No. 11 Ganassi Honda.

“I think that it was a good day for everything,” he said. “Trying out new things on the car, and for me to getting to grips with this car, getting the feeling, showing [the team] what I can do, and also me getting to know them and a little bit better.

“I think if, in the future, I have an opportunity to race for them, I will be very happy to do that. So many championships. It’s always a pleasure to work with teams like that. I enjoyed the people and it’s a good environment. It would be very cool to one day be with them.”

Drugovich, Chadwick complete first IndyCar tests at Barber

Felipe Drugovich was quick on his NTT IndyCar Series testing debut at Barber Motorsports Park on Monday; the 2022 FIA Formula 2 champion turning an unofficial best lap of 1m07.631s in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The Aston Martin F1 test …

The Aston Martin F1 test and reserve driver completed 129 laps once the fog lifted, and he was joined on the day by Andretti Global’s Jamie Chadwick who made her IndyCar testing debut in the No. 25 Honda. The three-time W Series champion and first-time Indy NXT race winner in 2024 with Andretti posted a best lap of 1m08.687s, which came on her 81st of 87 laps.

As a point of comparison, Ganassi’s reigning champion Alex Palou set a marker of 1m07.9s using the hybrid car at a previous test.

Drugovich set an early best of 1m08.017s while Chadwick laid down an initial benchmark of 1m09.400s before lowering it to a 1m09.356s and eventually the 1m08.687s that stood as her quickest lap. Drugovich put in the 1m07.631s run on his 110th lap.

“He did a great job for us timing,” Ganassi performance director Chris Simmons told RACER. “He was quite competitive. It’s one of the most physical tracks to go to, and Felipe looked like he could do another 100 laps on top of 100-plus he already did. Says a lot about his fitness.

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“You never know what you’re going to get on an evaluation day, but luckily, his feedback was good and he was up to speed pretty quickly, so we’re able to run through some test items, some things that were probably good for him to feel, and some things for us to try out. We learned a little bit for ourselves and hopefully a little bit for Honda, and certainly got some good info on Mr. Drugovich for the future.”

Andretti’s chief IndyCar engineer Craig Hampson oversaw Chadwick’s test and was clearly impressed with the Briton.

“You can tell she’s way ahead of the car,” Hampson said. “She knows exactly what it’s doing. Feedback is excellent. Knows what she wants out of the car, so she can guide the engineers to make changes, to try and make it more to her liking. We were able to get through some test items for the team. We were definitely able to get through a bunch of test items for Honda. So that was all very productive.”

As the smallest driver in Indy NXT and IndyCar, the test helped identify the areas where Chadwick can focus her efforts to build more upper body mass and endurance needed to wrangle an IndyCar that’s far heavier than her NXT machine.

“The one thing that she will freely admit that she needs to work on is just the physical assurance required to drive the car, to steer it,” Hampson said. “She was never winded or tired like that. You know, she’s clearly very fit, but she’s smaller in stature, and this is probably our highest physical steering effort track that we go to.

“She had no problem making lap time in the slower speed corners. But there are three high-speed corners here that you can make big chunks of lap time on, and that’s where, she wasn’t able to get the lap time out of the car in those corners. And she knows it, and she was pretty honest about, ‘Hey guys, I’m out of gas here.’ We did do what we could do the car to reduce the steering effort in the high-speed corners, but I’m sure there’s more we could do to help her.

“But I think that was what today was about. ‘What do I have to get my arms and shoulders to be able to drive one of these on a regular basis?’ I don’t think it was a shock to her, because clearly everybody had been warning her. But it’s different hearing about it versus actually experiencing it. She’s certainly not the first driver who has complained about steering effort at Barber. And she knows if she wants to do this as a career within the NTT IndyCar Series, more upper body strength is still required. That’s not a knock on her.”

Chadwick’s extensive open-wheel training in Europe and in NXT over the last two seasons stood out as well to the four-time Champ Car champion race engineer.

“In terms of all the stuff we’re looking for and feedback, not making any mistakes, not stalling the car, not falling off the track, she was perfect with all that stuff,” Hampson said. “You can tell she’s been driving for a number of years in really good environments, because she’s super calm on the radio and with the debriefs, she answers every time you call her on the radio; really professional.

“It was a good day for her as an initial foray to experience the car. Didn’t seem overwhelmed by it in the slightest. Just ran up against a limitation in the high speed corners as to just how much torque you can put into the steering wheel. Without that, you can’t make the commitment that you need to in those corners to get the last bit of lap time, and she’ll work on addressing all of that. She was a pleasure to work with.”

Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood attended the test to support his teammate, echoed many of Hampson’s sentiments, and sympathized with the punishing nature of the car and track.

“I thought she did really well; I did my first test at Barber and after a couple of runs I was shot,” he said. “Her feedback was phenomenal. Very professional and the way she talks with the team is on the level or better than some top drivers. She did a great a job. She should be proud of herself.”

Drugovich lands IndyCar test with Ganassi

NTT IndyCar Series champions Chip Ganassi Racing will test 2022 Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich at Barber Motorsports Park on Sept. 30. Andretti Global will also give Indy NXT race winner Jamie Chadwick her first IndyCar run at the same test. …

“We’ve received approval today from IndyCar to test him,” CGR managing director Mike Hull told RACER. “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.”

The Ganassi team does not have any vacancies in its downsized three-car roster for 2025, so the Brazilian isn’t vying for a race seat with the team. Having tested 2021 F2 runner-up Robert Schwarzman and been impressed with his speed and feedback, Hull expects more of the same from Drugovich, who serves as test and reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 team.

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“We wanted to test him a year ago and we’re catching up on that,” Hull said. “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.”

After Drugovich, Hull anticipates giving another young driver their first IndyCar test during the offseason.

“We still have the ability to test an Indy NXT driver because of the regulations,” he said. “So we’ll probably do that before the end of the year.”

Drugovich to race Whelen Cadillac at Le Mans

Felipe Drugovich will co-drive the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken at the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The 2022 Formula 2 champion, who currently fills the role of test and reserve driver for the Aston Martin …

Felipe Drugovich will co-drive the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken at the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

The 2022 Formula 2 champion, who currently fills the role of test and reserve driver for the Aston Martin F1 team, joins the Cadillac Racing effort for his first Le Mans start and his first appearance in the Hypercar class.

“Felipe has been on our radar for a couple of years,” Action Express Racing team manager Gary Nelson said. “After watching him race a sports car in the ELMS recently, we finally got a chance to meet him and work with him in some simulator testing. We were impressed by his maturity, discipline and knowledge.

“Next, we took Felipe to a track test, where he shared our car with Pipo and Jack. We are very excited to take the next obvious step and enter Felipe alongside Pipo and Jack at Le Mans. His record speaks volumes.”

Drugovich posted eight victories and five pole starts in 73 Formula 2 starts in 2020-2022, earning the championship with five victories, four poles and 11 podiums. He earned a record 14 victories in 16 races in winning the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship and was also the 2017-18 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 champion with 10 wins in 16 races.

As for sportscar racing, he brings LMP2 experience to the team gained from his current European Le Mans Series campaign in the highly competitive LMP2 class with Vector Sport.

“I am only 23-years-old, and I am having the most important opportunity in my racing car career until now thanks to Action Express and Cadillac,” said Drugovich.

“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is impossible to define in words, such is its magic and importance for cars in general and motor racing in particular. I am having the opportunity to live this 100 years history for the first time with AXR and Cadillac.”

With Drugovich down to race the Action Express-run Cadillac for Le Mans, Vector Sport has signed Patrick Pilet to fill his usual seat alongside Ryan Cullen and Stephane Richelmi for the 24 Hours.

Speaking with RACER last weekend at Paul Ricard during the ELMS meeting, Vector Sport team principal Gary Holland revealed that the team knew about Drugovich’s Cadillac drive long in advance. This allowed it to secure the signature of Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet in his place for Le Mans alongside its full-season ELMS pairing of Ryan Cullen and Stephane Richelmi.

“For the past three years we’ve been in touch with Patrick about working with us on various programmes, but it never reached the finish line previously for one reason or another,” said Holland.

“He’s got a lot of experience, and ticks a lot of boxes, he’s done GTs at a high level as a Porsche factory driver and was part of the conversation when we were putting together a Hypercar programme (with Isotta Fraschini). As we stand it’s a one-off drive for Patrick with us, but never say never.

“As for Felipe, there was always the potential (for him to join Cadillac for the race) from day one. We are really happy for him. It’s good for him and it’s good for us because of Pilet’s experience in LMP2 with the Le Mans configuration. It’s plug and play.”

Pilet was in attendance at the ELMS 4 Hours of Le Castellet and completed a seat fit with Vector Sport on-site in preparation for his debut with the team. The 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours will be Pilet’s 16th start and fifth in LMP2.

Drugovich to continue as Aston Martin reserve for 2024

Felipe Drugovich will remain Aston Martin’s test and reserve driver for 2024, as well as making an FP1 appearance in Abu Dhabi this year. The Brazilian won the Formula 2 championship in 2022 and was signed as a reserve by Aston, taking part in …

Felipe Drugovich will remain Aston Martin’s test and reserve driver for 2024, as well as making an FP1 appearance in Abu Dhabi this year.

The Brazilian won the Formula 2 championship in 2022 and was signed as a reserve by Aston, taking part in preseason testing in place of the injured Lance Stroll. Drugovich has also completed plenty of mileage in a previous generation car but a race seat in Formula 1 has not been forthcoming and he’ll retain his current role for next year.

“I’ve been really comfortable with the team, they’ve been really helpful for me and trying to prepare me as best they can,” Drugovich said. “Obviously we were waiting to see if there were other opportunities in Formula 1, but at the moment I think it’s the best option for me just to stay here.

“They are really taking care of me and one of the things I like is I can develop myself here and just try to improve on-track and off-track all the time. Also doing tests and private tests and this kind of stuff. I feel ready but I can always be more ready than this. So it’s good.”

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Drugovich will take part in FP1 at the final race of the season to get another taste of current machinery, and while he misses racing he says he feels Aston Martin would not stand in his way if an F1 race seat became available.

“I wish I was racing something, obviously. I’ve been doing it for 15 years and suddenly one year you don’t have anything to do — it’s quite tough. But even though I’m not racing I feel ready to race whenever I can thanks to these tests and all the development things I’m doing with the team.

“It’s frustrating for a driver coming up that there is no place and many drivers that have either done the same or less than you get the chance, or got the chance in the past, and you don’t. But it is what it is — we can’t change it and I just have to work as much as I can to show that I am able to be there. Maybe one day it will be enough to be a proper F1 driver for the whole year.

“It depends always on the team. I think no team would hold you if an opportunity comes — like a main seat somewhere else — but I think I’m very comfortable where I am right now. It’s a good place for me, I enjoy doing these things. At the beginning of the year I would say it was a bit hard to enjoy not racing, but you learn how to do it and I think I’m in a good place right now.”

If Drugovich is hoping a seat will open up at Aston, then Lance Stroll insists it won’t be his despite a tough second half of the season.

“The plan is I’m staying next year,” Stroll said. “It’s been a challenging season at times for sure. Some great highlights but also some really frustrating days of recent, but the plan is to keep going next year, for sure.”