McLaren has announced that it has added Aston Martin F1 team reserves Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Dolgovic to its reserve drivers for 2023. Aston Martin, which shares an engine partner with McLaren, has confirmed that reigning Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne and 2022 Formula 2 champion Felipe Dolgovic should replace regular drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri if needed. agreed to a contract to make available
The deal will cover most of the 2023 F1 season, from the first round of the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in early March to the 15th round of the F1 Italian Grand Prix on the first weekend of September. Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Dolgovic join a pool that also includes Mick Schumacher, who joined as third driver and Mercedes F1 reserve driver following losing his Haas F1 team seat to Nico Hulkenberg. “Aston Martin F1 has agreed that McLaren will grant access to our reserve drivers Felipe Dolgovic and Stoffel Vandoorne for the first 15 races of 2023 should their driving duties be required. I did,” Aston Martin announced on social media, with McLaren also posting similar language. McLaren will have access according to the normal duties of the three drivers. Stoffel Vandoorne, who now races in Formula E with DS Penske following winning the title with Mercedes last year, will prioritize his Formula E efforts, while Mick Schumacher and Felipe Dolgovic will be regulars for 2023. I don’t have a race seat. Former McLaren development driver Stoffel Vandoorne entered F1 with the team in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. After two years with Fernando Alonso, the Belgian was relegated to Lando Norris at the bottom of the doomed partnership between McLaren and Honda. After that, he was picked up as a reserve driver for Mercedes F1 and took command of the Formula E program that had just started, but as Silver Arrow won the drivers’ championship for the second year in a row and finished the electric car series, that I finished my role. Felipe Dolgovic has secured a reserve seat at Aston Martin F1 following failing to secure a full-time F1 seat following his success in F2. In 2022, his third year in the F2 series, he won five wins and four pole positions to become champion.
