Photo: Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team
Aston Martin has put to bed any rumours that Sebastian Vettel may make a shock F1 return, by confirming that Reserve Driver and reigning F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich, will debut in the case that Lance Stroll is unable to race.
The team claim that they will give the Canadian ‘every chance’ in order to be on the grid for next week’s inaugural Grand Prix of the season, but should they not want to take the risk, Drugovich is available.
The Brazilian took part in one of the three days of Bahrain testing, as the British outfit marked a significant improvement on its 2022 challenger.
After Day One at the Sakhir Circuit, he said “Driving the AMR23 for the first time today was great; I really enjoyed it. I spent a few laps at the beginning of the day familiarising myself with being back behind the wheel, but I felt like I got up to speed quickly and before long I was back in a good rhythm.”
Fernando Alonso welcomed his new team-mate after the conclusion of testing, stating that “He’s a super-talented driver. He adapted very well this week here in Bahrain, we saw today he was immediately on the pace and good long run.”
The agreement in place is just for the Bahrain race, and should Stroll remain unfit, Stoffel Vandoorne and Sebastian Vettel are likely to be other options explored for the Saudi GP.
Team Principal Mike Krack hailed a ‘good run’ of testing, saying that “We have learned a lot over the couple of days, and we’re quite happy with reliability and how we went.”
It appears that the team could be in with a shot of podiums throughout the early part of the season, something which will please everyone at the Aston Martin camp.
