Aston Martin scraps Sebastian Vettel plans; Felipe Drugovich will make his F1 debut if Lance Stroll is unfit for the Bahrain GP

Aston Martin has sorted itself out; Felipe Drugovich will replace Lance Stroll in the worst-case scenario.

Aston Martin scraps Sebastian Vettel plans; Felipe Drugovich will make his F1 debut if Lance Stroll is unfit for the Bahrain GP

Sebastian Vettel & Felipe Drugovich, Image via Twitter

Felipe Drugovich, the Formula 2 Champion, might make his Formula One debut with Aston Martin for the Bahrain Grand Prix. If Lance Stroll is unfit for the race, the Brazilian will replace him. Stroll met with an accident during pre-season training in Spain while cycling, which left him with a wrist injury. The Canadian missed the pre-season testing as well and was replaced by the team’s reserve driver, Felipe Drugovich.

Aston Martin will give Stroll a chance to compete in the season opener till the last minute. The team will evaluate Stroll’s fitness ahead of the Bahrain GP. If he can perform well, they will go with their driver. If not, Drugovich will make his debut. Either way, the Formula 2 reigning champion will be on standby. Apart from this, Mike Krack has been in contact with Sebastian Vettel, the former Aston Martin driver as well. But Krack refused to elaborate on it further. The team boss wants to respect Vettel’s decisions regarding Formula One.

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The team’s main priority is to get Stroll back on his feet. If Stroll cannot reach the second Grand Prix, they might turn to Vettel. In that case, it will give the four-time world champion ample time to train and get back on track. Aston Martin shared a statement on Twitter. “The team will continue to give Lance every chance to race, pending recovery from his injury. Should he not be fit to compete, then Felipe will drive the AMR23 alongside Fernando.”

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Aston Martin is impressed with Felipe Drugovich’s pre-season performance

Felipe Drugovich, Image via Twitter

After the pre-season testing, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack spoke about Drugovich’s performance. “Felipe did a very good job. We must not forget the whole thing here is also new for him. He never drove the car before. On the first day, he took it steadily and did all the things that we asked of him perfectly. It was faultless, I think if you have watched there was not one wheel lock, and there was not an apex missed or something like that. So we’re very happy with what he has done ” said the Aston Martin team boss.

Fernando Alonso praised Drugovich for combating the difficulty and challenge on track. He had pace and a good long run. The Spaniard also called him a super-talented driver. The Aston Martin team thinks that Drugovich will be able to perform well in case their driver is unfit for the race. They have full confidence in the Brazilian. 

With all this chaos going on in Aston Martin, the team did not rule out a possible Sebastian Vettel comeback. However, this is for further down the lane. It would be a good PR for the team to have two world champions as their driver line-up. This is a romanticized idea that is unlikely to happen. Although, one would never know how things will turn out. The Bahrain GP will begin in a few days, and the Aston Martin line-up will be confirmed by then. 

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