Cadillac and Felipe Drugovich are sticking to Plan A for the Le Mans 24 Hours at the moment, amid speculation that the Action Express Racing driver could be drafted into the Aston Martin F1 team on short notice to cover for Lance Stroll at the clashing Canadian Grand Prix.
Drugovich, 25, is an Aston Martin F1 Team reserve driver, and would be first in line to take Stroll’s place should he not recover from his recent wrist operation in time to compete.
Speaking with reporters at Scrutineering today in Le Mans, Drugovich said he is “fully focused” on his drive at French endurance race with Jack Aitken and Fred Vesti in the #311 Whelen V-Series.R.
“I just think I am doing the best race weekend of the year, and I’m happy,” he said when asked if there was any chance at all he would be called up to the F1 team.
“There’s a chance for everything in life; I don’t know what’s going to happen. For the moment, I’m focused on this, and that’s the approach I need to have. If I think about possibilities, I just go crazy and don’t focus on anything. So I prefer to take this normally. Nothing has happened in the past two weeks.
“They’re (Aston Martin Formula One) speaking to me, but it looks ‘as it stands’ at the moment.”
Should Drugovich be called into action at the Canadian Grand Prix, it would likely prove to be a headache for Cadillac and Action Express Racing, as the General Motors brand has no nominated reserve driver for Le Mans this year.
Last year, Tristan Vautier got the nod to act as reserve, but he is due to drive with CLX Pure Rxcing in LMP2. Louis Deletraz – a full-season Cadillac WTR GTP driver in IMSA – has also indicated to DSC that he would opt to stay in LMP2 with AO by TF for Le Mans if Cadillac came knocking.
Interestingly, Drugovich went on to explain that he is the only option for Aston Martin’s Formula One team if Stroll isn’t available.
“It’s just me,” he said when asked if Aston Martin had other reserves in place.
At the time of writing, Stoll looks increasingly likely to race at his home grand prix. The Race reports that he is believed to be on target to make the event, though nothing official has been communicated by the team, and a final decision is not expected until next week.
Image courtesy of IMSA
