Brazilian F1 drivers have played a huge role in contributing to F1’s rich history. Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet won three titles each, while Emerson Fittipaldi has won two. Although some of the best drivers have hailed from this country, it has been a while since F1 has seen a Brazilian driver. The last Brazilian driver to complete a full season was Felipe Massa (2016). Hence, former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan wants to see Felipe Drugovich get a seat soon.
When David Coulthard asked him on the most recent episode of the Formula for Success podcast which drivers he would like to see get an F1 race seat, Jordan replied Liam Lawson and Felipe Drugovich. Jordan stated that several F1 fans may know of Lawson after the New Zealander’s impressive cameo with AlphaTauri in the last campaign.
Jordan believes that Drugovich is arguably one of the best drivers without a race seat at the moment. Jordan then added,
“When you consider what he (Drugovich) did. He has won the Formula 2 championship by an absolute mile. Even a bigger gap than what Oscar did. And so I am absolutely certain, he may even be my number one choice“.
Piastri won the F2 championship by 60.5 points from second-placed Robert Shwartzman in 2021. Meanwhile, Drugovich won the 2022 F2 title by a whopping 101 points from Théo Pourchaire, who himself went on to win the championship in 2023.
After hailing Drugovich, Jordan concluded his remarks by stating that if Aston Martin do not see him in their long-term plans, then they should”sell him off to Ferrari” and earn millions in the process. One reason why Jordan believes that Drugovich would fit well with Ferrari is because of the 23-year-old‘s Italian background.
Felipe Drugovich one of many talents available in driver’s market
Felipe Drugovich is one of the many talents currently available in the driver market. Some other names include the likes of 2023 F2 champion Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti. Despite such talented drivers being available, all 10 F1 teams decided to stick to their line-ups for the coming season.
As it turns out, 2024 is also the only year in history when no rookie will compete in an F1 season. Current McLaren driver Oscar Piastri also faced immense difficulties before he finally landed a race seat in F1. After winning the F2 championship in 2021, the Australian had to spend the entirety of 2022 as only a test driver for Alpine.
Since Piastri, who arguably had one of the best rookie seasons last year, also found it so difficult to get a race seat, it only suggests that teams are hesitant to give inexperienced drivers a chance.
For example, Red Bull decided to stick with Sergio Perez (285) for 2024 even though the Mexican scored less than half the points as compared to his teammate, Max Verstappen (575). Similarly, Williams decided to stick with Logan Sargeant, who managed just one point as compared to teammate Alex Albon’s 27.
