Jak Crawford to drive for Aston Martin in Austrian Grand Prix FP1

Aston Martin has announced that Jak Crawford will drive Lance Stroll's AMR26 during the first free practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The outing will be Crawford's fourth First Free Practice appearance for the Silverstone-based team and his second of the 2026 Formula 1 season. It also fulfils the second of Aston Martin's four mandatory rookie practice sessions required under the regulations.

Crawford heads to Austria after completing a Pirelli tyre test with the team in Barcelona earlier this week. The Red Bull Ring is a familiar venue for the American, who has raced and tested there extensively and claimed victories in both FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3.

The session will also mark a return to the circuit where Crawford first drove an Aston Martin Formula 1 car. In June 2024, he tested the AMR22 at the Red Bull Ring, and since then he has become a key part of the team's driver development programme. He has now covered more than 3,800 kilometres in Formula 1 machinery, making him one of the most experienced young drivers outside the current F1 grid.

"It's great to have another opportunity to drive the AMR26 during a race weekend. Austria is a circuit I know well and it's quite special to be returning to the Red Bull Ring with the team, almost two years after my first test in an Aston Martin F1 car," Crawford said in a team statement.