Fernando Alonso has supported Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich‘s bid for a full-time Formula 1 race seat in 2026.
Drugovich has been waiting in the wings with the Silverstone-based squad since winning the Formula 2 title in 2022, having joined its development programme.
In that time, the Brazilian has become part of its regular reserve driver roster, but has been unable to find a race seat with Aston or with any other team.
The closest Drugovich has come was in the build-up to the Canadian Grand Prix, when Lance Stroll was recuperating from hand surgery.
Such was his willingness to accept the drive should he be required, Drugovich was reportedly ready to relinquish his Cadillac Whelen seat at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Alas, Stroll recovered and was able to race, but Alonso believes he is more than ready to race should he be offered a seat.
“It would be great to see him in F1,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week. “He has an incredible talent, Formula 2 was a demonstration.”
“We can see it here every day when we work with him,” Alonso said.
The Spanish veteran praised Drugovich’s work ethic and performances back at Aston’s HQ and in the free practice appearances he has given for the team.
“The simulator work, some of the free practices that he has,” Alonso cited.
“He has been always delivering the performance that the team was asking, even with very limited kilometres.
“It would be interesting to see him in a full-time drive and I hope it happens.”
Could an F1 offer from Cadillac be matched by a Formula E chance for Drugovich?
Drugovich has been frequently rumoured as a name on the shortlist of candidates for a drive with Cadillac, which will make its F1 debut next year.
With the speculation that the American marque, also to be based at Silverstone, is seeking a young and exciting prospect to be paired with a more experienced driver.
But it is possible Drugovich will have offers elsewhere, including Formula E, in which he made his full race debut for Mahindra in July.
With regular race driver Nyck de Vries fulfilling World Endurance Championship duties, Drugovich partook in the Berlin E-Prix double-header alongside Edo Mortara.
And after a 17th-place finish in Race 1, Drugovich equipped himself well to finish a mightily impressive seventh in Race 2.
After the race, Drugovich told Motorsport Week how he had found a real appreciation of the skillset FE drivers have, due to the hard and fast nature of the racing.
“I already had a lot of appreciation and respect for these guys and they are at a really high level,” he said.
“And it’s often difficult to see that from TV and, you know, it’s very hard to read the race and have a lot of mental capacity to understand and read the race while you’re still racing.”
When asked, having had a proper taste of the racing FE dishes out, if he would be keen to race in the all-electric championship again, Drugovich appeared positive about the prospect.
“That would be nice,” he said. “I think it’s something that I would be very happy to do.”
READ MORE – Fernando Alonso responds to Lance Stroll’s concerns about new 2026 F1 cars
Discussion about this post