Liam Lawson shows support for Drugovich: “He deserves a spot in F1, he was faster than Alonso”. Liam Lawson supports the promotion of 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich.

2025: The Year of the Rookies
The upcoming championship will not only feature drivers making major moves between teams but also the arrival of rookies. Limiting the list to those participating in their first full season as official drivers, there will be six new faces. Among them is Liam Lawson, who has already appeared in the last two championships, albeit always as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls.

Now, the New Zealander faces the challenge of racing for Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s new teammate. But could another rookie have been added to the grid for the upcoming season? Lawson believes so and even named someone he thinks deserved a promotion to Formula 1: Felipe Drugovich.

Faster than Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin’s reserve driver and the 2022 Formula 2 champion, Felipe Drugovich, had all the credentials not just to enter the F1 grid but also to become a full-time driver for the British team. “If there’s someone who deserves a spot right now, it’s Drugovich,” Liam Lawson explained on *The Pitstop Podcast*. “Last year, he got into the car for FP1 in Abu Dhabi and was faster than Lance Stroll, finishing third in the session (actually second, editor’s note). Then this year, I believe he was faster than Fernando Alonso. I’m not sure what the plans were, maybe there were other considerations, but this year he was quicker than Fernando in FP1.”

Liam Lawson’s memory isn’t mistaken when it comes to the times recorded at Yas Marina in both 2023 and 2024. In the first instance, Felipe Drugovich had a three-tenths advantage over the Canadian. In the most recent edition, the gap to the two-time Spanish champion was much narrower—just 33 thousandths of a second.