F2 champion Drugovich gets Aston Martin call-up for Italian GP practice

In brief

Drugovich to drive at Monza for Aston Martin

Aston Martin will become the latest team to tick the box for running a junior driver in a practice session this season when Drugovich takes over Stroll’s car on Friday morning at Monza.

“The car felt great when I drove it in pre-season testing and it will be fascinating to feel how it has improved since then,” said reigning Formula 2 champion Drugovich. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the simulator helping to develop the car. It’s also a fantastic opportunity for me to demonstrate what I’ve learnt through my testing programme. Since Bahrain, I’ve done many more miles in an Formula 1 car.”

Aside from the three teams that signed rookies for 2023, Ferrari are the only team so far that have called upon a driver with less than three F1 starts to their name (as is required by the rules) to specifically contest a practice session.

Stroll feels let down by Dutch GP strategy

“We thought maybe it’s going to stop raining and it would mean stay out [on] slicks is the right thing to do. But then when I saw everyone pitted after the first two laps I knew at that point it would have been a big disadvantage to pit, once everyone passed us on intermediates. So we were just trying to stay out. But we lost like a minute at the beginning of the race, just trying to stay out on slicks when it kept raining.”

Stroll made his first stop on lap four, after 14 drivers had pitted, and he dropped to 19th. He spent a third of the race there, and only six laps from the end did he return to 11th. Staying on slicks late on rather than switching to intermediate compound tyres while it was raining, for a second time, “was the worst thing to do” but Aston Martin repeated the error as they awaited heavier rain to switch to full wet tyres.

“Definitely a lot of wrong decisions were made today,” summarised Stroll.

Campos makes a line-up change for FIA F3 finale

Campos Racing has announced Hugh Barter will miss this weekend’s final FIA Formula 3 round at Monza, with Joshua Dufek taking his place.

Dufek steps up from Formula Regional, where he has claimed podiums in the European and Middle East championships over the last two years. He is currently ninth in the European standings. No reason has been given for why Barter, who is 18th in the F3 standings, will miss Monza.

“I’m extremely thrilled and thankful to both Campos Racing and Peak Performance Management to have been given this opportunity and can’t wait to work closely with the new team to learn as much as I can,” said Dufek. “As I’ve only competed in FREC up until now, it’ll be a bit of a jump into cold water but after a long summer break, I really couldn’t be more excited to hit the track and it’ll be nice to experience some more speed and power from the F3 machine.”

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

No timeline for Pagenaud return, but progress being made in recovery from Mid-Ohio crash (Racer)

'Although he didn’t know it at the time, Simon Pagenaud’s season came to an end with the unfortunate crash at Mid-Ohio on June 30 that was caused by a brake component failure on his Meyer Shank Racing car. Despite undergoing frequent checkups with IndyCar’s medical team, Pagenaud has yet to receive clearance to resume driving, and as a result, he’ll have to look to post-season to make a return in testing.'

De Silvestro surgery delays DJR wildcard testing (Speedcafe)

'Emergency surgery for Simona De Silvestro has forced the Shell V-Power Racing Team to adjust the testing programme for its Repco Bathurst 1000 wildcard entry. Dick Johnson Racing is fielding a third Ford Mustang in this year’s great race, which will be piloted by former Supercars full-timer De Silvestro and debutant Kai Allen. They were due to begin testing this Monday at Queensland Raceway, but de Silvestro's journey to Australia has been delayed by an operation to remove her appendix.'

Where it went wrong for Alpine’s F2 title aspirants at Zandvoort (Formula Scout)

'Although Victor Martins brought himself closer to the top four in the Formula 2 standings at Zandvoort, he actually only scored two points in a bizarre weekend. The sprint race, which he finished second in, was called off after two laps due to rain and therefore was classified as a non-championship bout awarding no points, while in the feature race he was the highest placed driver in the championship to score by finishing ninth'

Fifth Gea: Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (IndyCar)

'Oval races typically have a very small margin of victory, but Dixon registered the largest such finishing advantage of the season due to incredible fuel saving. His ability to conserve fuel allowed him to complete the distance in just three stops as the rest of the competitors needed four or more. Interestingly, it was a social media posting last week by Mike Hull, Dixon’s longtime race strategist, that revealed the team’s plans. On Twitter, he wrote: 'it’s a three-stopper'.'

19 years ago, Schumacher won his last title, a look back at his glory years (Autohebdo)

'The triumphant run came to an end in the Monaco tunnel following an unlikely contact between Schumacher and Montoya behind the safety car. Not enough to disrupt the forward march of the German, who won the next seven rounds. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, he had 12 victories in 13 races. Never seen before or since. Schumacher claimed a historic seventh title in Belgium two weeks later, even if he lost to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in the Ardennes.'

'I was approached for Schumacher film after 'Senna' success – but I'm not a fan of him' (Daily Star)

Asif Kapadia: "What I find terribly boring is one great driver is like ‘I want a s*** team mate so I can win everything’. I don't see the point of that, which is what I think the most boring eras of Formula 1 are like. We have that right now, where you have one person with all the best tech and everything. And then even when they don't win, they'll switch the rules on the last lap, which was a load of bollocks..."

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Congratulations to everyone who scored tickets today – we'll see you in March! 🤩

Still keen to join us in 2024? Here's what's still available after today's on-sale ⬇️

BUY TICKETS: https://t.co/OG384sIkDf#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xcYeI8n2PK

— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) August 29, 2023

Hoping that what happened in Zandvoort… stays in Zandvoort 😅

Not our best weekend but but we’re ready to fight again at our home race 💪🇮🇹#DutchGP #Zandvoort #Formula2 #F2 pic.twitter.com/yRnvERiNT6

— PREMA (@PREMA_Team) August 29, 2023

Lots of fun as always with the team in Zandvoort with the added bonus of having @JennieGow back in the pitlane and doing a remarkable job 🙌

And a special thanks to @AstonMartinF1 for providing the best fudge in the paddock to get us through our post race show

Next up, Monza! pic.twitter.com/ewAQTAJmrC

— Harry Benjamin (@imharrybenjamin) August 29, 2023

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

Drivers may move teams in 2025 with an eye on the year after when there is a technical overhaul of Formula 1’s regulations. But will established names even be open to a change of scenery for 2024 either to improve their current place in the pecking order or to start their preparations for 2026 super early?

If any teams plan to get their hands on either Leclerc or Sainz, now is the time. It is clear to see for all that neither is happy where they are.

If only Lawrence [Stroll, Aston Martin’s team chairman] were to give his son another job within the team. There’s sufficient money there to pay for either of the current Ferrari boys, and it would bring a sound challenge there.

Even at Mercedes there would be options as I can’t see Hamilton going on all that much longer.

Ferrari isn’t moving forward, it’s dropping down the order. It could be changed, but the spaghetti that Ferrari is, is currently way to difficult to untangle and straighten out. Overcooked and sticky. Time to open up a fresh package, replace everone, right from the bottom all the way up to the top. And that won’t happen with those egos, despite them always saying noone is bigger than Ferrari.
Coventry Climaz

Happy birthday!

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On this day in motorsport

• 25 years ago today Damon Hill scored his final F1 win by giving Jordan (now Aston Martin) their first grand prix victory, at Spa