Felipe Drugovich will replace Lance Stroll in pre-season testing

Yesterday we heard that Lance Stroll would miss F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain after a “minor accident” on his bike, and now Aston Martin has lined up its reserve driver to take his place.

Which is exactly what reserve drivers are for, right? Felipe Drugovich - the 22-year-old Brazilian who won last season’s junior F2 championship - will step into the AMR23 in place of Stroll, sharing driving duties with Fernando Alonso over the course of the three-day test.

Drugovich will actually be first behind the wheel when the shakedown begins on Thursday morning, with Alonso taking over in the afternoon. Beyond that, Aston’s schedule is yet to be confirmed.

The team expects Stroll to make a “quick recovery”, although there’s still a question mark hanging over his fitness for the opening race of the season in Bahrain on March 5.

Until then he will be “assessed daily” as his (as yet unspecified) injuries heal.

Should Drugovich be called back into action after testing, he’ll be aiming to emulate Nyck de Vries: last year the Dutchman subbed in for Williams at the Italian Grand Prix and a points-scoring finish earned him a full-time drive with AlphaTauri for 2023.