Stoffel Vandoorne, Mercedes, Formula E, Diriyah E-Prix, Race 2, 2022

McLaren add Vandoorne and Drugovich to reserve driver roster for first 15 races

2023 F1 season

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Former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne could drive for his former team again after being confirmed as an additional reserve driver for the upcoming season.

Vandoorne’s fellow Aston Martin reserve driver, Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich, will also be available for McLaren to call on should they need to.

Aston Martin has agreed to make the pair available to its fellow Mercedes customer team should McLaren find itself in need of a reserve driver over the first 15 races of 2023.

McLaren previously announced Alex Palou as the first of its reserve drivers for the new season. However he has clashing commitments in IndyCar over most of the first 15 races of the season.

The team has a total of four drivers available to call on as reserves. Mercedes confirmed earlier this month its reserve driver, former Haas racer Mick Schumacher, will also be on standby if required.

Vandoorne made his F1 debut for McLaren as a substitute for McLaren in the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix. He was one of the team’s regular drivers between 2017 and 2018.

He now races in Formula E and is the series’ reigning world champion. His participation in that championship will clash with the F1 rounds in Miami, Spain and Belgium.

View the current list of 2023 F1 drivers and teams

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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2 comments on “McLaren add Vandoorne and Drugovich to reserve driver roster for first 15 races”

  1. McLaren are the absolute best … at collecting drivers that’ll never race in Formula 1 for them.

  2. Unsurprising, given both teams share a PU supplier, but three shared drivers are still quite a lot for a single team, even if only until round 15.

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