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Felipe Drugovich

Felipe Drugovich wary of 'bad influence' risk with future F1 opportunities

Felipe Drugovich will race for Andretti in Formula E next season, but his future involvement in F1 remains less certain.

Drugovich
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Felipe Drugovich does not want F1 to have a "bad influence" on his debut Formula E campaign, having signed with Andretti to partner Season 9 drivers' champion Jake Dennis next year.

The Brazilian driver is currently F1 reserve driver for Aston Martin, a role he has fulfilled since winning the F2 championship in 2022.

Unable to find a route to a race seat in F1 and after three seasons on the single-seater sidelines, the 25-year-old will compete in his first full season as a professional, having previously passed up the chance to race in IndyCar.

Instead, he dovetailed his role at the Silverstone-based squad with endurance racing, which included competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Drugovich got his first taste of Formula E in 2023, as part of the series' rookie test in Berlin, where he drove for Maserati. He would feature in FP1 at Rome, before returning to the rookie test in 2024.

Last year, he got his first two race starts in the championship, also in Berlin, where he deputised at Mahindra for Nyck de Vries, who had WEC commitments. Finishing the second race in seventh, he collected six points, the first of his Formula E career.

Now, he has converted those opportunities into a full-time seat at Andretti, which is owned by TWG Motorsports, a partner of the Cadillac F1 team, the fledgling project that will embark on its maiden year in the championship in 2026.

However, despite his current role at Aston Martin and the potential for involvement with Cadillac in F1, Drugovich is unsure how his schedule outside of Formula E could potentially look next season.

When asked by RacingNews365, in front of select media, what his F1 commitments could look like moving forward, he replied: "To be fair, I don't know. That is something that is not decided as early as any full-time seat.

"So I think that I need to wait a little bit until the end of the year; what's going to happen with other drivers as well, and then see if it's fine for me, if it makes sense for me or not, and [if it does] I'll put the trigger on doing another programme, other than Formula E.

"It's something that, to be fair, I haven't really thought about. Obviously, there are a few opportunities here and there.

"I don't know if they make sense or not, but the focus is fully in Formula E at the moment, and I want to do this well, so that's... what I mean by 'if it makes sense for me or not', it's actually: is it going to take focus away from Formula E or not? And that's what I need to weigh on the scale."

The main priority

It remains unclear if Drugovich will leave Aston Martin upon the conclusion of the current campaign, and it is also uncertain as to whether there will be opportunities for him at Cadillac.

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas have been signed as the American team's first two drivers, and IndyCar race winner Colton Herta is expected to compete in F2 in pursuit of his FIA super licence, with F1 remaining his long-term goal.

Regardless of what is offered, Drugovich insists that any opportunity cannot have a "bad influence" on his Formula E duties with Andretti.

When asked by RacingNews365 if he would be open to leaving Aston Martin with a view to helping Cadillac, he said: "[It] depends on what's proposed to me, [it] depends on clauses and how it's going to pan out.

"I don't want anything to be a bad influence on my championship next year.

"So if it's a programme that makes sense for me, and it's good, it's healthy, and everyone is happy with that, then maybe yes.

"But the moment, I don't think anyone has even thought about it yet."

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