Aston Martin confirm Alonso replacement for Mexico City GP practice

Aston Martin is to give reserve driver Felipe Drugovich his first taste of the AMR24 F1 machine during the upcoming Mexico City Grand Prix. 

The team is yet to replace either Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll in the current season for the mandatory FP1 rookie session, but two-time world champion Alonso will give up his car for the opening practice session at the Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez at the end of October.

It will be the fourth official FP1 session 2022 F2 champion Drugovich will have driven for the Silverstone-based team after Abu Dhabi in '22 and '23 as well as Italy in '23.

Stroll will give up his car at a later race, although due to the fact that the only other non-sprint weekends are Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, it is likely the Canadian will step out at Yas Marina.

"I'm really excited to drive the AMR24 for the first time — I've been looking forward to it for a while," explained Drugovich.

"I've spent a lot of the year working on the development of this car in the team's simulator, so it will be valuable for me to feel the correlation between the sim and the real thing. 

"Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a track I haven’t driven before. 

"It’s a challenging circuit with a mix of long straights and technical corners, so I’ll be spending time on the simulator ahead of the event so that I’m ready to go come FP1. 

"I want to thank Aston Martin Aramco for trusting me with this opportunity.

Team boss Mike Krack added that the experience would be "rewarding" for Drugovich as he will be "collecting vital data to support our decision-making throughout the rest of the weekend and aiding with the set-up of the car."