Felipe Drugovich will serve a 20-place grid penalty in the opening race of Formula E's Berlin E-Prix, his first world championship single-seater race.
The Aston Martin F1 reserve and 2022 Formula 2 champion has been signed by Mahindra to replace WEC-tied Nyck de Vries for the two races in the German capital, due to the Dutchman racing in São Paulo for Toyota.
An FE debut is a notoriously difficult task, even more so for Drugovich after receiving a huge grid penalty from the stewards.
Drugovich has been handed the punishment due to Mahindra fitting a new gearbox outside the legal pool to his car.
Should Drugovich be unable to serve the entirety of his penalty, he will be forced to serve a stop/go at the start of the opening race at the Tempelhof Airport.
He is not alone in having a 20-place grid penalty, as Jaguar's Nick Cassidy will also serve a considerable grid drop and potential stop/go.
Substantial rain looks set to cause havoc in Berlin for FE, with first practice on Friday evening likely set to be the only dry session of the entire event.
With the exception of impeding McLaren's Sam Bird in the final sector, it was a smooth session for Drugovich, who ended it 16th on the timesheets – team-mate Edoardo Mortara was second.
Also interesting:
Watch: Christian Horner sacked in shock Red Bull announcement
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding as they discuss the huge news from the Red Bull camp as Christian Horner departs his long-held team principal role.
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleMost read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..












Join the conversation!