Brazil’s Felipe Drugovich becomes F2 world champion

Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich clinched the Formula 2 world title this Saturday (Sep 10). The setting was Italy’s Monza Circuit. Driving a car for Dutch team MP Motorsport, he became the first Brazilian champion in the history of Formula 2, the last category before Formula 1.

Before the race, the Brazilian driver from Maringá, Paraná state, boasted a 69-point lead over rival Theo Pourchaire. Drugovich started 12th and had to abandon the race after a crash early in the race. The French driver also started in the middle of the pack, in 14th, and needed to finish at least fifth to put off the title decision. Pourchaire tried to recover, but finished 17th, and did not score. Thus, the green-and-yellow party was guaranteed three races in advance.

“It was a strange race. We didn’t have much to do after turn four because I was forced into the grass and had to quit,” Felipe Drugovich told his own press team. “Closing the championship like this is different, but also good, because we showed we were strong throughout the year. Now our focus is on winning the team championship as well.”

In the season, the Brazilian won the Saudi Arabian race, the two races in Barcelona, the main race in Monaco, and in Zandvoort, in the Netherlands. Of the six Formula 2 champions, four made it to F1: Charles Leclerc (2017), George Russell (2018), Mick Schumacher (2020), and Oscar Piastri (2021).