Felipe Drugovich is the 2022 FIA Formula 2 world champion after establishing a commanding and unbeatable lead despite a DNF in Monza.
The 22-year old Brazilian has had an incredible campaign this season amassing five race wins, four pole positions and a total of 233 points. With three races left to go in the 2022 season, his stats are set to reach even higher.
Making contact on the first lap, the Brazilian was forced to watch on from the sidelines and anticipate his championship win. Entirely out of control of his fate, Drugovich was surrounded by his team as they watched his nearest competitor, Theo Pourchaire, fail to claim enough points to deny him the title.
Drugovich had a rocky introduction to Formula 2, his rookie season in 2020 was with MP Motorsport in which he delivered three wins, four podiums and one pole position. However in 2021, he switched to Virtuosi Racing where he had a less successful championship campaign, which proved frustrating for the Brazilian. In 2022 he made the return to MP Motorsport with the hopes of building upon the success he had had in his rookie year.
“Last year I wasn’t completely ready, especially mentally. I think I struggled a little bit in the tough moments so I only wanted to win all the time and lost a lot of points because of that. I think that really helped me to be ready now and yeah I feel like a totally different driver and yeah just a lot lot better.”
Drugovich was asked at what point he believed he could win the championship and said “obviously you start thinking about it very early in the championship, but you try not to.” He added, “I think when you actually realise you can get it, it’s something really special.”
The Brazilian admitted very honestly: “When you start you always have a dream of winning F1, but then going through you realise how difficult it is to be an F2 champion as well, which is everything you can do to match that dream. Suddenly it just becomes a dream as well to be F2 champion”
Despite winning the Formula 2 championship by a commanding lead – the likes of which has been done only by names such as George Russell and Charles Leclerc – Drugovich remains unaffiliated to any Formula 1 junior teams, nor has he been given the opportunity to take part in a free practice session like many of his fellow F2 drivers. He hopes that “this title will open up a lot of opportunities for me and hopefully one day I can be in F1 as well.” He added, “I think that’s the main target and yeah, I will fight for it.”
With three races left in the 2022 season and his drivers’ championship being confirmed, attention turns to the fight for the constructors’ championship in which MP Motorsport are the current leaders.
Drugovich said: “From my side I’ve got nothing to lose anymore, but also I need to think about the team and bring the points home, because I think they really deserve it as well.”
