Felipe Drugovich

Born in Maringá, Drugovich competed in numerous karting championships across Brazil and Europe, taking major championship victories.[2]

Drugovich made his single-seaters debut in 2016, joining Neuhauser Racing in ADAC Formula 4. There he achieved a podium and finished fourth in the rookie standings and twelfth overall. The following season, Drugovich switched to Van Amersfoort Racing, and also made his debut in Italian F4 with the team.[3][4]

Drugovich also competed in the MRF Challenge, claiming his maiden single-seater victory in the second race of round two and finishing fourth overall.

Drugovich at the Euroformula Open in 2017

Drugovich made his debut in the final round of the 2017 season as a guest driver with RP Motorsport, scoring a pole and victory in the two races.[5] The following year, Drugovich reunited with RP to contest the championship full-time.[6] He proceeded to dominate the championship, claiming a record fourteen wins and taking the title at Monza with two rounds to spare.[7][8]

Following the injuries sustained by Harrison Scott in Toronto, Drugovich was drafted in by RP to replace him for the 2018 Pro Mazda round at Mid-Ohio.[9]

In November 2018, Drugovich partook in the post-season test at Yas Marina with ART Grand Prix.[10]

Drugovich with Carlin in 2019

In February 2019, Carlin Buzz Racing confirmed that Drugovich would race with them in the inaugural championship.[11] He scored eight points and finished the season in 16th place. He also scored more points than both of his teammates (Logan Sargeant and Teppei Natori) combined.

Drugovich with MP Motorsport at Silverstone in 2020

After testing with them in post-season testing at Yas Marina, Drugovich was signed to MP Motorsport for the 2020 season,[12] partnering Nobuharu Matsushita. The season was set to start in March, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drugovich impressed in his debut round of Formula 2, qualifying 2nd behind Guanyu Zhou at the Red Bull Ring.[13] Drugovich dropped to fourth on the opening lap, being overtaken by Callum Ilott and Mick Schumacher. He could not keep his pace up, eventually finish 8th. However, his result gave him reverse pole for the feature race. He stayed clear of the pack, eventually winning the race, leading every lap.[14] In an interview after the race, the Brazilian commented that "it was certainly not [comfortable] and it was really hard" due to three safety car restarts during the race.[15] Drugovich had a poor weekend in the second Red Bull Ring round, qualifying 10th and finishing 13th in both the feature and sprint races.

Drugovich qualified in 18th at Hungaroring for the feature race. He attempted a tire strategy different from the front-runners. Drugovich had better tyre management and rapidly climbed up the order, eventually finishing fifth. During the sprint race, he had a shocking start falling towards the back on the opening lap. He could not recover, and finished the race in 16th. Drugovich recorded his maiden pole position at the next race in Silverstone beating out Ilott.[16] He was unable to convert it to a victory, slipping to seventh place. Drugovich lined up second for the sprint race, but was passed by Christian Lundgaard and Louis Delétraz on the first lap. He would eventually end up in sixth. In the second Silverstone weekend, Drugovich only managed to claim a point, by finishing tenth in the feature race from twelfth on the grid. Drugovich qualified fourth but fell to fifth after being passed by Schumacher at the start of the Barcelona feature race. On lap 24, following a good pit stop strategy, Drugovich passed Robert Shwartzman for the net second place, but a lap later Giuliano Alesi brought out the safety car which would change the race. Drugovich pitted for fresher tyres, but was unable to recover the positions lost. He eventually finished seventh. He had better fortunes in the sprint race. Starting second, he had a better start to pass Luca Ghiotto before turn 1. His pace was dominant, winning by 9.5 seconds.[17]

Drugovich qualified fifth at Spa-Francorchamps, but would turn out to have a tough weekend there. On lap 4, while battling for seventh place, Drugovich collided with teammate Matsushita, the Japanese driver slamming into the barrier and retiring on the spot. Drugovich meanwhile, damaged his front wing in the incident. He eventually finished the race in 20th, albeit last. However, after the race, Drugovich was disqualified for pitting on the last lap which violated the rules.[18] He finished the sprint in 13th. Another poor weekend in Monza followed. He finished 16th after a poor start in the feature race and retired in the sprint race, after Roy Nissany hit Drugovich at the back while running just outside the top ten. Drugovich had a solid weekend at Mugello improving a place on the first lap of the feature race after qualifying 5th. When Alesi brought out the safety car, Drugovich pitted for fresher tyres that left him down in 13th. However, he managed to fight back to fight to third on lap 31. Unfortunately, on the last lap, Delétraz snatched away the podium place from him, and so Drugovich was classified fourth. Drugovich was comfortably running in the top 8 for most of the sprint race, however he encountered a car issue. He was quickly overtaken during the later stages and finished 15th.[19]

Drugovich had another point-less weekend in Sochi. He was hit from behind on lap 1, and with too much damage sustained, was unable to continue. His sprint race would be just as horrible, finishing last in a red-flagged sprint race after Drugovich had problems with pedal shifts in his steering wheel.[20] Drugovich qualified second for the first Bahrain round but passed polesitter Callum Ilott into the first corner. Despite being undercut by Ilott during the pit stops, Drugovich managed to pass him again on lap 20. He would therefore go on to win his first feature race by a dominant 14 seconds describing his win as "surprising".[21][22] He started eighth for the sprint race, which was where he finished. For the second Bahrain round, Drugovich qualified fifth and would be in a battle for the lead for most part of the race. Eventually, he finished 4th. However, Nikita Mazepin was penalized for track limits while defending against Yuki Tsunoda and Drugovich. Hence, Drugovich was promoted to 3rd. Drugovich capped off the season with a point in 8th at the sprint race. Overall, Drugovich finished his maiden campaign in 9th with 121 points. He achieved a total of three wins, a pole and a fastest lap each, and four podiums.

Drugovich joined Virtuosi Racing in 2021, alongside Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou.[23]

Drugovich topped free practice for the opening race at the Bahrain International Circuit.[24] He would follow it up with an impressive third place in qualifying.[25] For the first sprint race, Drugovich initially ran in the top ten for the first two laps until he was forced to pit due to front wing damage. He finished in 16th. Drugovich made up nine positions to fifth during the opening four laps of the second sprint. Unfortunately, a late safety car brought out by Liam Lawson thwarted his efforts though, as drivers on new tyres passed him and dropped Drugovich down to 14th. Drugovich made up a place on teammate Zhou on the first lap but was back down in third after Oscar Piastri overtook him. After a safety car restart, Drugovich slowly dropped and finished in 8th, but was demoted a place due to a safety car infringement.[26] Drugovich qualified ninth at Monaco but he would start second for the first sprint. He was passed by Christian Lundgaard at the start of the race but halfway through the race, he was back in second as the Danish driver retired with an engine problem. Drugovich would then go on to finish in that position, while taking his first podium of the season.[27] For the second sprint race, on lap 11, a virtual safety car was deployed and Drugovich along with Zhou, made a gamble to put on slick tyres during mixed conditions. It did not pay off, and just a few laps later Drugovich pitted back for wet tyres. He would finish in 14th position. During the feature race, Drugovich pitted early on lap 10 attempting an alternative strategy. This would be a successful strategy and following mishaps from Robert Shwartzman and Dan Ticktum, he was up to third place and would end in that position. Over the radio, he declared that "it was the best race of [his] life".[28]

Drugovich qualified eleventh for the race at Baku. On the opening lap of the first sprint, Drugovich thumped Piastri, who in turn put Lawson in the wall. The stewards deemed Drugovich responsible of the incident, and he was handed a ten-second time penalty. He originally finished ninth but was demoted to 14th. Drugovich made up positions to seventh before the safety car was called out. He slowly was overtaken by quicker drivers and eventually finished tenth. Drugovich made up four positions to seventh on the opening lap, thanks to an incident. He made a comeback drive, overtaking Ralph Boschung during the later stages to finish fourth. Drugovich qualified sixth for the Silverstone weekend. He made up a place on a retirement from Roy Nissany on the opening lap of the first sprint. The rest of his race would be quiet and he would finish in fourth. He finished sixth in the second sprint after pressuring Jüri Vips in the closing stages. In the feature race, Drugovich finished in sixth, the same place where started after passing Théo Pourchaire at the start but eventually being undercut by Shwartzman.[29]

Drugovich qualified fifth at Monza, but would turn out to have a poor weekend. Making up a place on Boschung on the opening lap of the first sprint, he clipped Ticktum and spun him out of the race. Drugovich then pitted for a new nose and dropped to 19th. It was not to last however, as on lap 5 he spun out of the race at the Ascari corner. Drugovich only made up three places during the second sprint to finish in 17th. During the feature race, he was running in a net sixth place when he was told to pit once again on lap 15, due to a confusion on front wing damage. He would complete the race in 12th, ending the weekend without points. Drugovich set the fastest time during practice at Sochi, and qualified 13th.[30] However, on the way to the starting grid for the sprint, he crashed heavily into the wall and was taken to hospital.[31] Thankfully, he emerged unscathed but was declared not fit to take part in the feature race.[32]

Drugovich qualified fifth at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Starting sixth for the first sprint, he concluded the race in fourth after an opening lap pass on Pourchaire and passing Boschung later. Drugovich looked like he was going to finish in the top ten of sprint race 2, but he sustained damaged after Jüri Vips tagged him from behind, dropping Drugovich to 10th at the flag with multiple penalties from other drivers applied. Drugovich finished the red-flagged feature race in fifth.

Drugovich re-joined MP Motorsport for 2022, this time partnering FIA Formula 3 graduate Clément Novalak.[33]

^† As Drugovich was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† As Drugovich was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
* Season still in progress.