Stoffel Vandoorne to join Aston Martin as test and reserve driver
- Published
Stoffel Vandoorne (left) will reunite with former McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin
Reigning Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne will join Aston Martin in 2023 as test and reserve driver.
The former McLaren Formula 1 driver will share the role with Felipe Drugovich, the 2022 Formula 2 champion who joined in September.
Vandoorne, 30, has been Mercedes reserve driver since 2019, after losing his McLaren race seat at the end of the previous year.
The Belgian said his new role was "incredibly exciting".
The move reunites him with two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso, who joins Aston Martin from Alpine next season and who was Vandoorne's team-mate at McLaren in 2017 and 2018.
Vandoorne won the Formula E title with Mercedes this year and, following their withdrawal from the all-electric series, is moving to the DS Penske team for the 2022-23 season.
"I've watched with great interest how Aston Martin has developed and expanded operationally, and I know how incredibly determined it is to make progress in every area," he said.
"Joining Fernando, who I already know from my Formula 1 racing career, and Lance (Stroll), to help them develop and improve next year's car will be a terrific job, and I'm really looking forward to the challenge - and reward - of working together with the whole organisation at Silverstone."
Vandoorne has shared the reserve role at Mercedes with Dutchman Nyck de Vries, who will race for Alpha Tauri next season.
Current McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo, whose contract has been terminated a year early - he has said he will not be racing in F1 next year - has been linked with the Mercedes position.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said on Saturday at the Mexico City Grand Prix: "Daniel is speaking to a few teams about a potential role, I think also Red Bull. We very much like him. He's a great character but we are not in a position to decide who is going to be reserve or third driver."
Signing Vandoorne is the latest in a series of signals of Aston Martin's ambition to move up the grid - owner Lawrence Stroll has set the team the target of being capable of winning by 2025.
Vandoorne is a highly regarded and accomplished driver who was tipped for a successful F1 career before he joined McLaren alongside Alonso as the team were reaching the bottom of a long decline.
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said: "Stoffel has all the capabilities we need for this new and expanded role within the team: he is fast, analytical, hard-working and a fantastic team player, and will fit perfectly into our growing organisation, working alongside our other test driver, Felipe Drugovich.
"The whole team is hugely motivated for next year, and the appointment of Stoffel, alongside Fernando, Lance and Felipe, gives extra depth to our fantastic driver line-up.
"This will be a significant role for Stoffel, and we will be reliant on him to work hard with both our track and simulation and engineering teams to improve our performance for 2023 and beyond."
Vandoorne and Brazilian Drugovich replace Nico Hulkenberg in the reserve role at Aston Martin. The experienced German is tipped for a return to a race seat next year with Haas, replacing Mick Schumacher, although the team insist no decision has yet been made between the two.
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