Aston Martin's Vandoorne and Drugovich join McLaren’s 2023 reserve driver pool

Aston Martin have announced that their reserve drivers, Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich, can be used by McLaren for the majority of the 2023 season, should the situation arise.

Vandoorne was announced as an Aston Martin reserve in November, the former McLaren racer sharing duties with reigning F2 champion Drugovich, who had earlier joined the team’s development programme.

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In a social media post on Monday, Aston Martin stated that McLaren will have access to Vandoorne and Drugovich “for the first 15 races” of the 23-race 2023 schedule.

It follows a similar announcement that Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher – who took up that role after two seasons racing for Haas – will also be part of McLaren’s pool for the upcoming campaign.

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Both Aston Martin and McLaren head into the new season with revised driver line-ups: Fernando Alonso has joined Lance Stroll at the Silverstone outfit, while former F3 and F2 champion Oscar Piastri links up with Lando Norris at the Woking squad.