Felipe Drugovich prepared to skip Le Mans if Aston Martin calls him for Canada F1 GP
F1 will take precedence over Le Mans for Aston Martin reserve Felipe Drugovich if Lance Stroll is ruled out of his home grand prix.
Felipe Drugovich is willing to skip the Le Mans 24 Hours if Aston Martin calls him up to replace an injured Lance Stroll in the clashing Canadian Grand Prix.
Drugovich is set to drive Action Express Racing’s factory Cadillac LMDh prototype with Frederik Vesti and Jack Aitken in the blue riband round of the World Endurance Championship on 14-15 June.
This would be his second consecutive appearance at Le Mans following on from his debut in 2024, when he, Aitken and Pipo Derani finished ninth in the top Hypercar class.
However, Drugovich also serves as Aston Martin’s reserve driver in Formula 1, which may need a new driver to partner Fernando Alonso if Lance Stroll doesn’t make a full recovery before his home race in Montreal next week.
Stroll was forced to withdraw from the Spanish GP due to pain in his wrist and hands, believed to have been linked to the fracture he sustained while cycling in early 2023.
The 26-year-old was due to get surgery after Barcelona and no timeline has been provided regarding his expected recovery.
Should Stroll not be fit to race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a week's time, Aston could bring in reserve driver Drugovich as a replacement.
The Brazilian, who won the 2022 F2 title with MP Motorsport, has never raced in F1 despite being affiliated with the British brand for three years.
"At the moment, I don't even know exactly how things will happen from now on,” Drugovich told Band TV.
“First of all, we have to wish Lance the best. For Le Mans, in that regard, my priority has always been Formula 1, so that's what must be maintained until then."
Aston Martin also has former McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne on its books as a reserve, but the Belgian is also due to contest Le Mans on the same weekend with the factory Peugeot squad.
Aston’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack insisted that the team’s priority is to have Stroll back in the car for the Canada race.
However, should he not recover in time, the team has a backup plan in place involving Drugovich and Vandoorne.
“It is quite simple, the ‘Plan A’ is to have Lance in the car – that is the ‘Plan A’, and that is what we are working to,” said Krack. “If the ‘Plan A’ does not work, then we need to pull ‘Plan B’.
“Obviously we always knew that Le Mans was going to happen, so we also had plans in place that if we need a driver that is doing Le Mans, we will bring him, but at the moment this is not the only question.”
“We wait what the next days are bringing, and then we take a decision.”
