Peter Windsor says £600k driver signing was the ‘biggest waste of money’ in F1 history

The Formula 1 grid for 2025 is effectively decided after Sauber announced Gabriel Bortoleto will partner Nico Hulkenberg.

Sauber was the only question mark, while it depends on how Red Bull proceed with Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson after the season given the Mexican has been unable to improve his form since the mid-point of the season.

It has been one of the busiest driver markets in recent memory, as all the teams attempt to come up with solid plans for their lineups ahead of the planned regulation change in 2026. Confirmation of their plans for 2025 effectively takes some pressure off and can allow drivers to embed themselves in a team.

Several drivers missed out on the Sauber seat that could have been considered over Bortoleto, however, Peter Windsor thinks there was one driver who made a mistake when he graduated from Formula 2.

Peter Windsor thinks Felipe Drugovich made a mistake in Aston Martin deal

Felipe Drugovich won the F2 title in 2022 and was appointed the test and reserve driver for the team, in a move that secured his future in the F1 paddock.

Despite having an outing in FP1 sessions and replacing Lance Stroll last year during testing, Drugovich has not made any other appearances for the team on track. Windsor believes the move was a waste of time for the youngster, after missing out on this years driver market.

“There is absolutely no reason why Felipe Drugovich should’ve signed as the reserve driver for that team. It’s the biggest waste of money in the history of wastages of money. He signed for £600,000 why would he do that? He’s never going to race there,” said Windsor on his YouTube livestream.

“He has no chance of them putting him in as number one and he will never replace Lance Stroll. How does that help him? I he didn’t done that Aston deal, he might have got some offers and drives. I really rate him but it winds me up when I think of the wastage there.”

F1 grid decided for the 2025 season

With the exception of the Perez and Lawson situation at Red Bull, pretty much every F1 team has confirmed its lineup for the 2025 season.

The reserve drivers are expected to be the same for the majority of the teams, apart from the ones where drivers have seats elsewhere such as Ferrari with Oliver Bearman.

Zhou is eyeing a reserve driver role to keep his F1 career alive, having been dropped along with Valtteri Bottas at Sauber.

Bottas is expected to take up a role with Mercedes as their reserve driver, which should bring some experience to the table for Andrea Kimi Antonelli.