Lots of Friday drivers: Who’s sitting out at Spielberg? Who’s driving?

Young drivers take to the track at the Red Bull Ring! Just as in Barcelona two weeks ago, there are once again plenty of young drivers out on the track in Spielberg. On the Friday before the Austrian Grand Prix, many teams are completing one of four compulsory rookie training sessions.

To promote the next generation of Formula 1 talent, teams are required to put young drivers behind the wheel for at least four FP1 sessions on Friday. A driver is considered ‘young’ if they have not yet competed in two Formula 1 Grands Prix. Age is secondary, as one of the Spielberg rookies demonstrates.

Who’s driving at Spielberg? Who’s sitting out?

Dino Beganovic instead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari: the young Swede drives in Formula 2 for DAMS and is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He has already featured in Barcelona, as well as in Spielberg and Bahrain in 2025.

Dino Beganovic

Foto: Ferrari

Paul Aron instead of Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi: The young driver from Estonia has already completed a practice session for Audi in Barcelona. In 2025, he took part in practice sessions for Alpine and Audi’s predecessor, Sauber.

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Haas-Ersatzmann Ryo Hirakawa

Foto: XPB

Ryo Hirakawa to replace Esteban Ocon in the Haas: For the 32-year-old (!) Japanese driver, this will be his fifth free practice session for Haas, but his first under the 2026 regulations. The 2022 Le Mans winner has already driven the Haas four times and has driven once each for McLaren and Alpine.

Luke Browning replaces Carlos Sainz at Williams: Browning also featured in Barcelona, replacing Alex Albon on that occasion. He is now testing the second FW48.

Luke Browning

Foto: Williams

Jak Crawford replaces Lance Stroll at Aston Martin: For the American, who is Aston Martin’s reserve driver, this will already be his fourth FP1 session.

Combined with the many FP1 appearances in previous races at Barcelona, some teams have already completed a large proportion of their quota of four rookie sessions. Williams, Audi and Aston Martin have already completed two – half of their quota. The Racing Bulls have too – without any other driver having been in action there. But as Arvid Lindblad is a rookie, two sessions are effectively already accounted for. Alpine has not yet had a rookie behind the wheel this year.