Crawford Steps Into Stroll's AMR26 for Austrian GP FP1

Crawford confirmed for Austrian FP1 in Stroll's seat

Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team has confirmed that third driver Jak Crawford will participate in Free Practice One at the Austrian Grand Prix, driving Lance Stroll's AMR26 at the Red Bull Ring. ^[1] The session marks Crawford's fourth FP1 appearance for the team and his second of the 2026 season, and it represents the second of the team's four mandated rookie practice sessions this year. ^[2]

Under F1 rules, teams are required to field a rookie driver, defined as a driver who has started no more than two grands prix, in four FP1 sessions, two in each car, over the course of a season. ^[3] Crawford made his first FP1 appearance of the season in March at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he deputised for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. ^[3]

Familiar territory for the American

Fresh from completing a Pirelli tyre test with the team in Barcelona earlier this week, Crawford will return to the cockpit in Austria, a circuit he knows well through previous testing programmes and his FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 campaigns, where he claimed victories in both categories. ^[2] The outing also comes two years after Crawford's first experience in an Aston Martin Aramco Formula One car, when he tested the AMR22 at the Red Bull Ring in June 2024; since then, the American has become an integral part of the team's driver development programme and has accumulated more than 3,800 kilometres in Formula One machinery. ^[2]

Crawford was appointed Aston Martin's third driver ahead of the 2026 season after finishing second in the 2025 F2 standings. ^[3] Crawford has never raced in an F1 grand prix, but has taken part in a few practice sessions over the past couple of seasons, stepping into the AMR25 for FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi last year. ^[4]

What Aston Martin says

Mike Krack, Aston Martin's Chief Trackside Officer, said that Crawford "continues to play an important role as Third Driver," has been "heavily involved in our simulator programme throughout the season," and that "Austria provides another opportunity for us to evaluate his progress in a race weekend environment while gathering valuable data for the team." ^[1]

:::analysis The timing of this outing is notable. Crawford arrives in Austria carrying back-to-back preparation; a Pirelli tyre test in Barcelona followed immediately by a race-weekend FP1 run at a circuit where he holds junior-category victories. That continuity gives the data Aston Martin collect on Friday morning more context than an isolated session would. The team is not simply ticking a regulatory box; it is building a longitudinal picture of how Crawford translates simulator and test-day work into a live Grand Prix environment. With two mandatory rookie sessions still remaining for the year, Aston Martin will need to deploy him in at least one more race before the season closes, which keeps his development timeline visible inside the team's planning cycle. :::

Related reading

• Tire degradation at the Red Bull Ring
• How the undercut works in Austria

^[1]: Crawford to get another FP1 outing with Aston Martin in Austria, formula1.com, accessed 2026-06-22. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/crawford-to-get-another-fp1-outing-with-aston-martin-in-austria.7bYOHaQgDjCUiBtjRSsU1I ^[2]: Jak Crawford to drive in FP1 at Austrian Grand Prix, astonmartinf1.com, accessed 2026-06-22. https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/jak-crawford-to-drive-in-fp1-at-austrian-grand-prix ^[3]: Lance Stroll replaced as Aston Martin makes Austrian GP FP1 announcement, planetf1.com, accessed 2026-06-22. https://www.planetf1.com/news/lance-stroll-aston-martin-austrian-grand-prix-2026-fp1 ^[4]: Aston Martin announce F1 star Lance Stroll replacement at Austrian Grand Prix, gpfans.com, accessed 2026-06-22. https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1086306/aston-martin-f1-lance-stroll-replacement-austrian-grand-prix-jak-crawford/