New acquisitions for McLaren: Aston Martin reserve drivers to be shared

McLaren will also be able to call on Aston Martin's reserve drivers this season, the team announced on Twitter. Aston Martin reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich will only be available to McLaren for the first 15 races.

McLaren is busily expanding its line-up for 2023. Besides regular drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, McLaren itself already has IndyCar driver Alex Palou waiting in the wings. It was also recently announced that Mick Schumacher, as part of a deal with Mercedes, could also be called up by McLaren in the coming season.

Old acquaintance and new talent

Now two more names are being added to that list. Aston Martin and McLaren have agreed on a deal for the first 15 races. For Stoffel Vandoorne, this means a possible reunion with the team for which he already competed in Formula 1 in 2017 and 2018. The Belgian currently races in Formula E, where he is defending his world title this year. Drugovich is still waiting for his Formula 1 debut: the reigning Formula 2 champion did appear in action for Aston Martin during free practice last season.

We will have access to @AstonMartinF1's reserve drivers, Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne, in the instance that they are required for driving duties for the first 15 races of 2023. pic.twitter.com/IRW9SjPy2v

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 20, 2023