Strategy

Six Rookie and Reserve Drivers Take Over for Austrian GP FP1

Answer

Confirmed

Six teams fielded rookie or reserve drivers in Free Practice 1 at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Ferrari, Racing Bulls, Haas, Williams, Audi and Aston Martin all made FP1 line-up changes, with Dino Beganovic, Ayumu Iwasa, Ryo Hirakawa, Luke Browning, Paul Aron and Jak Crawford each taking the wheel in place of their regular race drivers.

Six teams rotate line-ups for Austrian GP FP1

A total of six teams fielded a rookie in Friday's opening practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix, following the seven who made appearances during FP1 at the previous round in Barcelona. ^[1] F1 regulations require every full-time driver to make way for a rookie, defined as someone who has started no more than two Grands Prix, in two practice sessions across the season. ^[1] Ferrari, Racing Bulls, Haas, Williams, Audi and Aston Martin all made changes to their line-ups for FP1 in Austria. ^[1]

The six drivers who ran

Ferrari's Dino Beganovic stepped into Charles Leclerc's SF-26; the Swedish Ferrari Driver Academy member is currently racing in Formula 2 and has previous FP1 outings from 2025 under his belt. ^[2] Jak Crawford, Aston Martin's American reserve driver, replaced Lance Stroll in the AMR26, while Ayumu Iwasa took Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls seat, adding to his duties as test driver within the Red Bull programme. ^[2]

Iwasa, who acts as test and reserve driver for both Racing Bulls and Red Bull, competed in his seventh FP1 in Austria, this time driving for Racing Bulls. ^[1] Ryo Hirakawa, competing in his first FP1 of 2026, drove Esteban Ocon's Haas; the 32-year-old also acts as the team's test and reserve driver and is currently racing in the World Endurance Championship with Toyota. ^[1]

Paul Aron, Alpine's reserve driver who has a testing arrangement with Audi, drove the R26 in place of Gabriel Bortoleto, and Luke Browning, the Williams reserve and Driver Academy member, replaced Carlos Sainz in the FW48. ^[2]

FIA rule context and the Browning clarification

The regulation mandates that each of the 11 teams must field a total of four rookie drivers, two in each car, in a Friday practice session across the 2026 season. ^[3] Browning's car suffered a mechanical failure in Barcelona, meaning he did not complete any laps; however, the FIA clarified that his appearance there still counts toward the minimum of four appearances for 2026, as there is no minimum lap requirement or track time necessary. ^[3]

For the Racing Bulls car driven by Arvid Lindblad, the rule does not need to be fulfilled, as the 18-year-old rookie met the requirements himself by driving in the opening two weekends of the 2026 season. ^[3]

:::analysis With six sprint weekends on the 2026 calendar and the early-season cancellation of two rounds, teams have fewer conventional FP1 slots available than in previous years, concentrating rookie appearances into a smaller number of weekends. Friday's six-car rotation at Spielberg is one of the larger single-session intakes of the year and reflects teams actively managing their compliance windows before the calendar runs out.

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Related reading

^[1]: Formula 1 official, "Which rookies are getting FP1 outings at the Austrian Grand Prix?" formula1.com, accessed 2026-06-27. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/which-rookies-are-getting-fp1-outings-at-the-austrian-grand-prix.62rA85UKggQs6PujCkH7yZ ^[2]: RacingNews365, "The F1 rookies taking part in Austrian GP FP1." racingnews365.com, accessed 2026-06-27. https://racingnews365.com/the-f1-rookies-taking-part-in-austrian-gp-fp1 ^[3]: SportBible, "F1 rookie among six driver changes for Austrian GP weekend as FIA rule clarified." sportbible.com, accessed 2026-06-27. https://www.sportbible.com/formula-1/austrian-gp-fp1-driver-changes-rule-910248-20260625