Aston Martin can be pretty pleased with their driver recruitment for 2023 onwards, having signed double World Champion Fernando Alonso, Formula E World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne, and Formula 2 World Champion Felipe Drugovich.
Alonso will, of course, be partnering Lance Stroll next season, after replacing the now retired Sebastian Vettel.
Vandoorne and Drugovich will become the Silverstone-based side’s reserve drivers, a role they will hold when not competing in another series.
Vandoorne, who is a former Mercedes reserve driver, will be attempting to retain his Formula E title in 2023, after moving from Mercedes-EQ to DS Penske.
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Drugovich is also expected to race in another category next season; however, he is yet to announce where he will compete next year.
Given that Drugovich is the F2 champion, Aston Martin will likely be keeping an eye on the Brazilian, given that he is perhaps a future F1 driver.
Team principal Mike Krack discussed what they’re hoping to do with Drugovich next season, with the ultimate aim being to get the 22-year-old “race ready”.
“We will see how we develop the whole thing next year, whether we can run him in a previous car to prepare him, like Piastri did or like Lance did a couple of years ago and then have maybe other appearances in practice [sessions],” Krack told RacingNews365.
“I think we have to see how the situation works out now, and [see] what his possibilities [are]. At the moment, the target is clearly to develop him to be race ready, and then we will see how the situation goes next year.”
In the past, teams have often had a favourite when occupying two reserve drivers, with Mercedes having used Nyck de Vries much more regularly than Vandoorne.
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Aston Martin aren’t currently planning to put a “number one” or “number two” label on their reserve drivers, with Krack revealing that the team will decide who to use when a situation arises.
“We have not really a number one reserve driver, number two reserve driver,” explained Krack.
“We need to see. Both drivers will have also a programme besides [being a reserve driver] – Stoffel will be in Formula E, Felipe I think will also do a race programme. So we have to see who is available when, and we will decide accordingly.”