Photo: Red Bull
There could be a new name, or two, appearing on the Formula 1 grid this month.
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll missed last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix due to an old wrist injury causing complications that ruled him out after qualifying.
His team needs to prepare for the possibility of him not returning to the cockpit at next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, but its two reserve drivers are both due to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours on that date.
Red Bull Racing’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen picked up three penalty points in the Spanish GP, meaning he now has 11 on his race license. Drivers get a race ban when they accumulate 12 penalty points in a 12-month period, and the oldest of Verstappen’s expire on June 30.
Should he be handed a penalty point in Canada, he would miss the Austrian Grand Prix on June 26-28 and Red Bull would likely call up one of the drivers at its second team Racing Bulls. That would then leave a vacancy there to be filled.
In addition to ex-F1 drivers who are either free agents or contracted to rivals, there are also several talents in contention to make their debut.
Felipe Drugovich and Frederik Vesti, the 2022 Formula 2 champion and 2023 F2 runner-up, are set to share Action Express Racing’s Cadillac in the top Le Mans Hypercar class at the Le Mans 24 Hours but both could also be required in Canada. Vesti is reserve driver for Mercedes-AMG, which provides powertrains to Aston Martin, the team Drugovich is F1 reserve driver for.
Their former F2 rival Ayumu Iwasa is first in line for a race opportunity with Racing Bulls, or potentially even Red Bull Racing as he drove for them in free practice one at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Drugovich and Vesti were also on track in that session.
Iwasa was a Honda junior and then also a Red Bull junior through his junior single-seater career, and both of its F1 teams use Honda-derived powertrains. He claimed five wins across two F2 seasons then stepped up to open-wheel racing’s top tier last year with Team Mugen in Super Formula.
A pole and three podiums set up a title attack but he fell to fifth in the standings at the final round and 2024 ended with a renewal of his Mugen contract since he missed out on a Racing Bulls seat after testing for them.
Iwasa is currently fourth in the 2025 SF standings, his three podiums accompanied by two retirements.
Also under consideration is 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad, with reports Red Bull has requested an age exemption so he can be granted the FIA superlicense needed to make him eligible to race in F1. The reigning Formula Regional Oceania champion is an F2 rookie, and sits third in the points table with two wins and a pole.
Free agents with a superlicense include 2023 F2 champion Theo Pourchaire and Formula E racer Zane Maloney.