Felipe Drugovich returns to the Berlin E-Prix this weekend carrying more than just a race seat. The circuit at Tempelhof Airport holds a special place in his story. It was here, at the 2025 Berlin E-Prix, that the Brazilian stepped in for Mahindra Racing‘s Nyck de Vries and scored points on his Formula E debut. Now he arrives as a full-time Andretti Formula E driver, returning to the only track on the calendar where he has previous race experience.
Pit Debrief exclusively spoke to Drugovich ahead of the 2026 Berlin E-Prix to find out how his season has been going, what he has learned, and why he believes the best is still to come.
A challenging start, but reasons for optimism
Drugovich is candid about how the first half of his debut season has gone. It has not always matched his expectations, but he refuses to let that cloud his outlook.
“It’s been a challenging season until now,” he said. “I think it’s not how I expected, honestly, but it’s been challenging, and at the same time, it’s been quite nice, because I’ve been a reserve driver for the past three years, and this is just honestly what I wanted. I knew it was going to take a little bit of time for me to get into my own best version.”
He spent three years on the sidelines as a reserve driver before earning his place on the grid this season, and he is clear that the learning curve was always going to be steep.
“The potential is there,” he stated. “We just need to put it all together.”
From stand-in to full-timer
Last year, Drugovich arrived at Tempelhof with almost no preparation time, stepping in at short notice and still managing a seventh-place finish in the second race of the weekend. Twelve months on, the circumstances could not be more different. He arrives with six rounds of experience under his belt and, crucially, the familiarity of a track he already knows.
Despite the change in status, he insists his approach has not shifted dramatically. “The approach is pretty similar to what I’ve done for the past six weekends. I think it’s just trying to minimise the mistakes. Obviously, for the first half of the season, I’ve been trying to explore as much as I can and try different things. Not being worried about making mistakes. It just happened that everything we’ve done went the wrong side of the coin.”
He is philosophical about it. “It is what it is. It’s experience, and from now on I think we can start capitalising, especially at a track where I finally have a little bit of experience.”
The one thing he wants to fix
When asked to identify the single area he most wants to improve, Drugovich did not hesitate.
“Consistency in the races. That’s the main thing. I’ve been trying different stuff in every single race, and I think now it’s just a matter of not repeating the same mistakes and bringing it all together.”
For a championship as unforgiving as Formula E, where small mistakes compound quickly, and energy management punishes any lapse in concentration, consistency is everything.
Life at Andretti: Friends, not mentors
Drugovich shares the Andretti garage with Jake Dennis, a former Formula E champion and one of the more experienced heads on the grid. It would be easy to assume that Dennis has taken the younger driver under his wing, but Drugovich pushes back on that idea.
“Not really a mentorship. We’ve been good friends. We live close together, so we also see each other sometimes outside of the track, which is nice. He’s been a cool guy and the team has been really nice to me. I’ve really enjoyed the whole experience until now. I’m happy with it and hopefully we can just get better from now on.”
It is a telling insight into how Andretti operates. Rather than a hierarchy, Drugovich describes a partnership built on mutual respect and a genuine friendship that extends beyond the paddock.
Berlin: Time to score points
Tempelhof has been good to Andretti over the years. Drugovich now has the chance to add his own chapter to that history.
He arrives with quiet confidence.“Obviously, we have a little bit of expectation from last year already. Last year was quite good for me. Everything just felt a bit easier last year, and hopefully we can make it even easier this year.”
His immediate target is straightforward. “Hopefully, we start getting points here. That’s the main thing. We’re just starting to actually make some good progress in the races, and I think we just keep doing what we’re doing in qualifying, which is already quite good.”
Gen 4 and the Championship’s future
The conversation closed with a broader question about where Formula E is heading. The recently revealed Gen 4 car, capable of exceeding 335kph and producing 600kW of power in Attack Mode, represents a major step forward for the series. Drugovich believes it could be a turning point.
“Gen 4 is something that Formula E really needed. I think it’s going to grow quite a lot because of that. The cars are quite nice. It needed to be something spectacular to watch, which I think the championship has missed a little bit lately. It would be quite cool to watch such fast cars going around, and especially in qualifying, it’ll be quite nice.”
Drugovich arrives in Berlin not as a wide-eyed debutant, but as a driver who has done the hard yards, absorbed the lessons and now feels ready to deliver. With a track he knows, a team he trusts, and half a season of experience behind him, this weekend could be the moment things finally click. For a driver of his undoubted ability, the hope is that Berlin marks the beginning of the results his talent deserves.
