Aston Martin's F1 reserve driver Felipe Drugovich won't race the British manufacturer's Valkyrie in the FIA World Endurance Championship due to there not being a 'close link' between the two programmes.
The Brazilian told Only Endurance at Daytona, 'I think coming from Aston Martin F1, I expected there to be a bit closer link, but it wasn't such a close link.'
Meanwhile, we asked Aston Martin why Drugovich hadn't been selected for the programme. In response, Aston Martin told us they wouldn't comment why certain drivers had, or had not, been picked. But, Adam Carter, Aston Martin's head of endurance motorsport, did tell OE this:
'We reviewed and assessed a wide-ranging collection of drivers from the point of the programme's inception, with a keen eye placed on those associated with Aston Martin programmes, both present and from the past.
'We made our decisions, along with our partner The Heart of Racing, based on a number of criteria, and we concluded on the line-ups we have because we felt they represented crews that gave us the best potential for success,' he said.
Finally, we asked if Drugovich has ever driven the LMH version of the Valkyrie, with the answer being no.
Tim Fullbrook
Drugovich's CV
Drugovich won the Formula 2 championship in 2022 and became Aston's F1 reserve driver shortly after. However, the 24-year-old has been on the fringes of F1 ever since, with no spot available as a race driver for Aston Martin, since both seats are filled by Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
With a lack of racing opportunities in F1, Drugovich has branched out into sportscars — but not with Aston Martin. Instead, he has raced in the European Le Mans Series for Vector Sport, in the LMP2 class, and at Le Mans in Hypercar with Cadillac.
This was his first experience in a top class car, racing with the factory Cadillac team, run by Action Express Racing. He largely impressed, keeping the car on the road in his first race in a Hypercar and at Le Mans. Unfortunately, they'd finish 15th in class, 31 laps down, after Drugovich's fellow Brazilian and teammate, Pipo Derani, crashed at Indianapolis with five and a half hours to go.
Drugovich was, however, invited back to the team to be the fourth driver for the Daytona 24 Hours last month. Unfortunately, this race didn't go to plan either, with Drugovich's teammate Frederic Vesti crashing hard on the oval, and the car needing quite a bit of time in the pits to be repaired. They'd eventually finish 16th overall, or ninth in class, 50 laps down.
Same manufacturer, separate programmes
But, given what Drugovich told us at Daytona, and the comment from Carter, it seems that although they're under the same banner, the F1 and WEC/IMSA programmes are not particularly close.
That's a bit different from the other manufacturers in WEC who are also involved in F1. Both Alpine and Ferrari have had their F1 junior or reserve drivers drive their sportscars, with Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc driving the A424 and 499P at the 2024 Bahrain rookie test.
It remains to be seen whether the links between Aston's programmes get closer, or whether they'll still be distanced from each other.
Phil Oakley
Feature image credit: Aston Martin F1
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