Felipe Drugovich has been drawing a lot of attention with his great performance in the last three double rounds of the 2022 F2 season, but the road to Formula 1 has stages that do not depend only on the Brazilian's talent
It is undeniable: all eyes are on Felipe Drugovich after winning four of the last seven races in the 2022 F2 season - race 2 in Saudi Arabia, the double round races in Barcelona, and the main race in Monaco after starting from pole position. In the previous races he finished out of the points only in the sprint race in Monte Carlo after a succession of problems, ranging from a flat tire at the start to a penalty for speeding from the pits. Otherwise, the gap to second placed Théo Pourchaire would be even greater than the already considerable 36 points after ten completed races.
It's a performance that has already yielded notable achievements for Drugovich's career, such as a double victory in Barcelona, something that hadn't happened in F2 since 2016, when Antonio Giovinazzi swept the weekend in Baku that year. And judging by the pace the Brazilian has been showing in races, this is not something circumstantial. Drugovich is, at the moment, the man to beat.
In terms of performance, there is nothing to question. After a promising debut in F2 in 2020, Drugovich had an up-and-down season with Uni-Virtuosi in 2021. The Brazilian then returned to MP and has been instrumental in the team's progress this season.
In the races seen so far, Drugovich is very combative, always fighting for positions and rarely getting involved in touches or accidents. He has also shown himself to be a driver who makes few mistakes, something fundamental in a championship that tends to be as balanced as F2.
Now, it is clear that the target of all those who are in the lower divisions, especially in what is considered the last step before Formula 1, is to be promoted to the elite of world motorsport. But the path is more arduous than it seems. It is even ironic to say that winning the F2 is the easiest, but it would be the part that depends much more on Drugovich's talent - which he has already proven at each round he has - together with the work of the MP team.
The other considerable part to get to F1 is sponsorship, and this is an old and well-known problem for many Brazilians who are abroad looking for a place in the sun. Drugovich knows he needs financial support to take another step towards this dream, and this ends up becoming a race against time.
But there is also another important issue to consider for 2023: the available slots. So far, only the top four teams - Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren - have drivers with contracts signed until next year. In all the others, there is at least one vacancy, which would be quite encouraging, it is true. Judging by the speculations, there would be few options left for the Brazilian driver.
Take Alpine, for example. Esteban Ocon is guaranteed until the end of 2024. The other spot should remain with Oscar Piastri (last year's F2 champion and reserve driver), even though the French team has a Fernando Alonso still hungry for victories.
The two-time champion, in turn, has already had his name linked to Aston Martin, which also seems to be keeping an eye on Mick Schumacher, in case Sebastian Vettel retires at the end of the year. And it is worth remembering that Lance Stroll is the son of the Canadian tycoon who owns the team, Lawrence Stroll.
At Alfa Romeo, Guanyu Zhou is a rookie, but is likely to stay for at least another year. That leaves AlphaTauri and Williams, whose drivers have contracts until the end of 2022. Pierre Gasly is one who has long deserved a spot with a better team, only unless McLaren decides to terminate Daniel Ricciardo to open up that spot, he should suffer another year with the Italians. And Yuki Tsunoda, after a very irregular debut, is doing well - in some races, he has even been ahead of Gasly.
At Williams, the threatened vacancy is that of Nicholas Latifi, and one of the possible candidates would be Piastri, loaned by Alpine in a move that would guarantee the Australian the possibility of not staying idle for another year, as well as give Alonso the chance of staying with the Enstone base for another year. Speculation, only.
And Haas? After the loss of the Russian Uralkali sponsorship (and the losses with Schumacher's accidents), all the American team needs most is a good investor. There, talent alone will not count.
As you can see, even drivers who are already in F1 are not 100% guaranteed to remain in 2023. There are still candidates who are in the teams' academies, the reserves, and this is a path that would be fundamental for Drugovich to get even closer to the main category of motorsport.
But, again, it is not easy, just look at the example of Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman was once a member of the McLaren Driver's Academy, won the 2019 F2 championship, but was unable to move up to F1. The second option was the growing Formula E, where De Vries was champion last year, and that's what brought him back to his dream of being in motorsport's top category - as a Mercedes affiliate. He drove with Williams in free practice in Barcelona and was highly praised by the team from Grove.
The most important thing for Drugovich is to take one step at a time. There are nine rounds to go until the title decision, and many things can happen. The main thing he is already doing: fighting for the F2 title this year, with good enough performances to put him on the radar. The search for sponsorship also continues, as the driver has already said on several occasions. And what comes next, as cliché as it may be, only time will tell.