Can Aston Martin Prodigy Follow Oscar Piastri’s Path as Lawrence Stroll Continues to Rest Faith in Son Lance?

“It was quite upsetting as the announcement was false and it also denied me the opportunity to properly say goodbye to everyone at Enstone.” It’s been over a year since the Oscar Piastri, Alpine, and McLaren debacle happened. It was a mess that ended with relations between Piastri and Alpine management souring, and robbing him of bidding a graceful goodbye to the people who helped him grow in the two and a half years he was with Alpine. The question is: Can history repeat itself, this time concerning Lawrence Stroll and Aston Martin prodigy Felipe Drugovich?

Felipe Drugovich has been a part of Aston Martin since September of last year. After winning the F2 Championship in 2022, Lawrence Stroll & Co. signed him as the first driver of the team’s development program, and this season, he became Aston’s reserve driver. But being a reserve driver isn’t what a racer dreams of. Unfortunately for Drugovich, someone is standing in his path to an F1 seat with Aston. Who is it? Lance Stroll.

Lawrence Stroll and Aston Martin could lose Drugovich 

In 2020, Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin, and the following year, he rebranded Racing Point to Aston Martin. His son, Lance, has had a seat in F1 since Stroll Sr. invested $100 million to get his son a seat in 2017. Since then, it’s like Stroll Jr. has had a permanent seat in F1. The Canadian driver hasn’t been doing too well this season, and there have been pleas to sack him. In all likelihood, that won’t happen, and Lance will continue racing in the sport for as long as he wants. That’s where Aston Martin is at risk of losing Drugovich.

Here are the similarities between Piastri and Drugovich. Both of them won the F2 championship—Piastri in 2021 and Drugovich in 2022. In 2022, Piastri became a reserve driver for Alpine, and in 2023, Drugovich became the reserve for Aston. In 2023, Piastri joined McLaren as a full-time driver. But what will happen with Drugovich in 2024? As per the Brazilian, he has every intention of staying at Aston. As reported by Motorsport-Total, he said, “I feel very comfortable in the team, they have helped me a lot to prepare myself as best as I can. Of course, we were waiting to get other opportunities in Formula 1.” [Translated by Google] ‘Other opportunities’ being the keywords.

Everyone knows Fernando Alonso is here to stay at Aston. And everyone also knows Lawrence Stroll will continue to support his son. That would leave a talented driver without a seat for 2024. Knowing he has what it takes to compete in F1, why would he want to waste more time sitting on the sidelines? “At the moment, the best option for me is to stay [at Aston Martin]. They really care about me. I can develop here and try to improve myself on the track and off,” added Drugovich. His best option for an F1 seat might just be to follow in the footsteps of Oscar Piastri and ditch the Silverstone outfit.

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When Alpine released a statement saying Piastri would drive for the team in 2023, the Aussie knew his future was secure at McLaren. That’s why he publicly denounced the statement. Does Drugovich have any other path into F1 other than Aston Martin?

Could Felipe Drugovich join Williams in 2024?

As a reserve driver, most of the duties Drugovich fulfills for Aston Martin happen behind the scenes. Remember how Aston finished seventh last season? The Silverstone outfit came into this season as the second-fastest car on the grid. It wouldn’t have been possible without the time the Brazilian spent on the simulator. In pre-season testing, when Lance Stroll was out because of injury, Drugovich stepped in and drove the AMR23, helping the team gather valuable data. Considering everything he’s done for the team, everyone has only good things to say about the driver.

On the other hand, Drugovich’s F2 rival Logan Sargeant hasn’t been having the best rookie season. After making the step up to F1 this season with Williams, the American has been struggling to say the least. He’s had numerous crashes, and his seat has come under question. Although Williams has shown faith in Sargeant, it’s still looking for replacements. And one of the frontrunners for the seat in 2024 is Felipe Drugovich. Sargeant has just two more races to prove that he deserves to stay. If he fails to do so, Drugovich could very well ditch Aston Martin’s reserve role for a full-time seat at Williams.

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Do you think the Aston Martin prodigy will follow in Oscar Piastri’s path and leave Lawrence Stroll & Co. hanging?