Jak Crawford to Drive Lance Stroll's AMR26 in Austrian GP FP1

Crawford confirmed for Austrian GP FP1

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.

It will mark Crawford's fourth FP1 appearance for Aston Martin and his second of the 2026 season, after Japan, while ticking off the second of the team's four mandated rookie practice runs for the year. ^{[1] [2]}

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, two in each car, over the course of a season. ^[3] Crawford's Austria outing means Aston Martin will have completed two of its four mandatory slots, with both Alonso and Stroll still required to step out for one further FP1 session each later in the season. ^[4]

A familiar circuit with a personal milestone

Off the back of a Pirelli tyre test with the team in Barcelona earlier this week, Crawford is due to take over Lance Stroll's AMR26 for the opening one-hour session at the Red Bull Ring, a circuit he knows well from his F2 and F3 campaigns. ^[2] The outing also comes two years after Jak's first experience in an Aston Martin Aramco Formula One car, when he tested the AMR22 at the Red Bull Ring in June 2024. ^[1]

Crawford's programme to date

Crawford has never raced in an F1 grand prix, but has taken part in several practice sessions over the past couple of seasons, stepping into the AMR25 for FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi in 2025, before returning to the track at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, having been named Aston Martin's official third driver for 2026 following the departure of Felipe Drugovich. ^[3] 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. ^[1]

Aston Martin ran Crawford for the first time this season at Suzuka, in part to allow Fernando Alonso to arrive in Japan later than usual as a result of the birth of his first child. ^[5] While many teams then opted to use up a rookie FP1 outing in Barcelona last weekend, Crawford's next opportunity was pushed back to Austria. ^[5]

:::analysis The Red Bull Ring is a short, high-energy circuit where a single FP1 hour can still yield a meaningful data set. Crawford's prior running there in junior categories and in an earlier Aston Martin test, combined with back-to-back mileage from the Barcelona Pirelli test, gives this session more developmental value than a debut at an unfamiliar venue. With two mandatory slots remaining for the full-season drivers, the team retains flexibility to schedule the next outings at circuits that best suit its simulation and setup priorities. :::

Related reading

• Tire degradation at the Red Bull Ring
• The undercut and overcut at Spielberg

^[1]: Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team official announcement, accessed 2026-06-20. https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/jak-crawford-to-drive-in-fp1-at-austrian-grand-prix ^[2]: Formula1.com, "Crawford to get another FP1 outing with Aston Martin in Austria," published 19 June 2026, accessed 2026-06-20. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/crawford-to-get-another-fp1-outing-with-aston-martin-in-austria.7bYOHaQgDjCUiBtjRSsU1I ^[3]: PlanetF1.com, "Lance Stroll replaced as Aston Martin makes Austrian GP FP1 announcement," accessed 2026-06-20. https://www.planetf1.com/news/lance-stroll-aston-martin-austrian-grand-prix-2026-fp1 ^[4]: RacingNews365, "Aston Martin announce driver change for Austrian GP first practice," accessed 2026-06-20. https://racingnews365.com/aston-martin-announce-driver-change-for-austrian-gp-first-practice ^[5]: Racer.com, "Crawford to get next Aston Martin FP1 run in Austria," published 19 June 2026, accessed 2026-06-20. https://racer.com/2026/06/19/crawford-to-get-next-aston-martin-fp1-run-in-austria