Felipe Drugovich asserts that he is aiming to secure one of the vacant 2023 Formula 1 drives after being crowned champion in Formula 2.
The Brazilian driver took the title with three races to spare, having enjoyed a consistent run of results throughout the 2022 campaign competing for MP Motorsport.
As per the F2 regulations, the champion is not allowed to return to the series the following year, meaning Drugovich will depart the grid at the end of the season.
Currently, there exists a number of opportunities on the 2023 F1 grid, including at Alpine and Williams, while Drugovich has also been linked with a third driver role at Aston Martin.
“I’m trying to be around in the paddock,” Drugovich said. “There are few places still available in F1.
“Obviously, it’s very difficult to get that main seat. We’re trying, but if not, we’ll try to get a reserve seat. For the moment, I’m just trying to get that main seat.
“Hopefully the news will be around quite a lot, I think that there are a lot of people cheering, especially because there’s no Brazilian in F1.
“I think if you go down the ladder, I’m the first one that they can pick and it’s special to get the job done for them.
“They’re really missing someone in F1 and hopefully, I can be there one day to represent the country.”
Drugovich joins an exclusive list of drivers who have won the GP2/F2 Championship, including names such as Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Charles Leclerc.
Having held a healthy lead in the standings for much of the 2022 campaign, Drugovich admits that he was struggling not to think about the title early on in the season.
“You start thinking about it very early in the championship,” he said. “You try not to, but I think when you actually realise you can get it, it’s something really special.
“I think it was around Spa when I got a gap again and I saw that we had come back from the break very well. Then I really thought that it was possible.
“Even though it was already almost the end of the championship, the eleventh round, I think there I really started to think about it.”
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