Liam Lawson is right – it’s ‘crazy’ that one Bahrain Grand Prix substitute doesn’t have an F1 seat

Six junior drivers featured in FP1 at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday. Teams are obliged to run a rookie (less than three race starts) at four events this year.

Multiple squads chose Bahrain because it’s such a familiar venue. The full-time drivers won’t necessarily lose out because they’ve already tackled the circuit in pre-season testing.

Williams youngster Luke Browning was the highest in the pecking order as he placed P13. Browning was involved in a frightening near-miss with teammate Alex Albon at the end of the second sector.

Dino Beganovic, replacing Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, was 14th, with Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin) 16th and Ryo Hirakawa 17th. Hirakawa drove for Alpine in FP1 at Suzuka but is now donning Haas colours.

Mercedes’ Frederik Vesti ended up 18th, just ahead of Ayumu Iwasa, taking over from the reigning world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Karun Chandhok agrees with Liam Lawson after Felipe Drugovich impresses at Bahrain Grand Prix

Most of the rookies were around a second adrift of their teammates. Vesti technically outpaced Kimi Antonelli, but the latter didn’t set a representative time after encountering an early engine problem that sidelined him for almost the whole session.

The other outlier was Drugovich, who lapped within a tenth of Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll. Speaking live on Sky Sports, Karun Chandhok said the ‘impressive’ Brazilian proved he deserves an F1 seat.

“You know what?” he said. “I look at this wave of rookies who have come into F1 this year, six new rookies have come in.

“And yet, Drugovich isn’t one of them. Every time he’s got in the car and had a chance to do something, he’s looked impressive.

“There again matching Lance Stroll, within eight hundredths. Stroll’s been on a good run of form this season.

“It’s really odd. He’s not raced competitively in single-seaters for a couple of years now. He’s racing in IMSA, but Drugovich did a fantastic job in F2 to win the championship, but he’s not really had a chance to show what he can do in F1.”

On a podcast appearance last year, Liam Lawson said it’s ‘crazy’ that Drugovich isn’t in F1. And based on this showing from the former F2 champion, it’s hard to argue.

Has Felipe Drugovich finally found a route onto the Formula 1 grid?

This isn’t the first time Drugovich has shone in practice. He was second in FP1 at the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP and quicker than two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in the same session last year.

The problem is that Stroll and Alonso are both under contract until the end of 2026. No matter how much he impresses the team, they can’t give him a drive for next year.

But an alternative may be emerging. Cadillac spoke to Drugovich’s camp at the Japanese GP last weekend.

One theory is that they’ll sign an experienced driver alongside a young American, but they aren’t committed to that path. And given that he already represents the brand in the US, Drugovich could be a natural fit.