Aston Martin Confirms Crawford for Austrian GP FP1 as Stroll Steps Aside
Aston Martin has confirmed that third driver Jak Crawford will replace Lance Stroll in Free Practice 1 at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. The outing is Crawford's second FP1 run of the 2026 season and fulfils the second of Aston Martin's four mandated rookie practice sessions for the year. Stroll returns to the car from FP2 onwards.
Crawford confirmed for Stroll's seat in Austrian GP FP1
Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team has confirmed that third driver Jak Crawford will participate in Free Practice 1 at the Austrian Grand Prix, driving Lance Stroll's AMR26 at the Red Bull Ring.
Crawford will step into the AMR26 for FP1, before Stroll gets back into his machine for FP2 and the rest of the weekend. [1]
Regulation context: the mandatory rookie quota
Under F1's 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 over the course of a season.
The session will mark Crawford's fourth FP1 appearance for the team and his second of the 2026 season; it also represents the second of the team's four mandated rookie practice sessions this year. [2] Both Alonso and Stroll will still be required to step out for one more FP1 session each later in the season. [3]
Crawford's preparation and track record
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 car, when he tested the AMR22 at the Red Bull Ring in June 2024; since then the American has accumulated more than 3,800 kilometres in Formula 1 machinery. [1]
Crawford was appointed Aston Martin's third driver ahead of the 2026 season after finishing second in the 2025 F2 standings.
He made his first FP1 appearance of the 2026 season in March at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he deputised for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. [3]
Team statement
Mike Krack, Aston Martin's Chief Trackside Officer, stated that Crawford continues to play an important role as third driver and that the FP1 session is another valuable step in that process; he noted Crawford has been heavily involved in the simulator programme throughout the season and recently completed productive running during the Pirelli tyre test in Barcelona, with Austria providing an opportunity to evaluate his progress in a race weekend environment while gathering valuable data for the team. [2]
:::analysis Crawford arrives in Austria as arguably the best-prepared reserve driver on the grid at this particular venue. Victories in both F2 and F3 at the Red Bull Ring, combined with more than 3,800 km of F1 mileage in Aston Martin machinery and a Pirelli tyre test less than a week prior, means the team is not surrendering useful data by sitting Stroll out for an hour. For Crawford personally, each live race-weekend run builds the case for a future race seat, whether at Aston Martin or elsewhere. The structural fact that Stroll has not scored a point across the first seven rounds of 2026 only heightens outside attention on how any substitute performs relative to the broader baseline. :::
Related reading
- [1]Jak Crawford to drive in FP1 at Austrian Grand Prix (aston-martin-f1). Accessed 2026-06-21.
- [2]Crawford to get another FP1 outing with Aston Martin in Austria (formula1). Accessed 2026-06-21.
- [3]Lance Stroll replaced as Aston Martin makes Austrian GP FP1 announcement (planetf1). Accessed 2026-06-21.
- [4]Aston Martin announce F1 star Lance Stroll replacement at Austrian Grand Prix (gpfans). Accessed 2026-06-21.