Felipe Drugovich takes 1st Formula E podium in Monaco: "A dream on my debut"

For Brazilian Felipe Drugovich, the second race in the Principality of Monaco was a very special one: the Andretti driver secured his first podium in Formula E with second place on the iconic street circuit in the Principality. "This is a dream, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finish on the podium on my debut here", he describes.

The podium was already within reach for the Brazilian in the Andretti car on Saturday. He had finished the first race of the double-header in Monaco in fourth place. "I was close and today we did it", said Drugovich happily in the press conference after the race.

He had already put in a strong performance in qualifying on Sunday, securing 5th place on the grid. During the race, he made up two positions on the first lap and kept up with the leading group before dropping back to ninth place due to the earlier Attack Mode activations of other drivers. After activating his first four minutes of attack mode on lap 12, Drugovich managed to move up to second place, where he then finished the race.

Energy management as the key to success

As Drugovich describes, he has struggled with the issue of energy utilisation in previous races. "When I look at how the last few races have gone, I've run out of battery in the last ten laps. But this time it was fine." During the race, his battery level was mostly at a similar level to that of his direct rivals, and at times he even had a slight advantage.

The Brazilian also has a hunch as to why this was the case: "Since Berlin, we have changed a few things on the car, replaced a few parts, and that also seems to improve efficiency", he describes. He also sees an improvement in reading the races as a reason for the good result: "Reading the race was something I struggled with a bit at the beginning of the year. But now it's slowly coming together and I understand it better and better."

Drugovich's podium also secured the only points of the race for the team, as his Andretti team-mate Jake Dennis finished the race in sixth place but was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty for contact with Dan Ticktum. As a result, the Brit dropped back to twelfth place and missed out on the points.

He nevertheless told e-Formula.news that he was delighted for his Andretti colleague: "Congratulations to Felipe - his first podium for Andretti and his first podium in Formula E. A great milestone for him, and yes, he drove mega all weekend."