Fernando Alonso to miss Belgian Grand Prix FP1 as Aston Martin junior steps in

Aston Martin has announced that Jak Crawford will drive Fernando Alonso’s car in FP1 at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The move will see Crawford make his third FP1 appearance of the F1 2026 season at Spa.

Jack Crawford to deputise for Fernando Alonso in Belgian GP FP1

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Crawford was appointed Aston Martin’s third driver ahead of the F1 2026 season after finishing as the runner-up in the 2025 F2 championship.

Under F1’s rules, teams are required to field a rookie driver – defined as a driver who has made no more than two F1 starts – in a minimum of four FP1 sessions, two in each car, over the course of a season.

Crawford previously deputised for Alonso in FP1 at this year’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, where the Spaniard arrived late following the birth of his first child.

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Aston Martin has confirmed that Crawford will once again get behind the wheel of Alonso’s car in the first free practice session at Spa this weekend.

In a post to social media on Monday, Aston Martin wrote: “Back behind the wheel at Spa.

“Third Driver Jak Crawford will participate in FP1 at the Belgian GP, driving Fernando Alonso’s AMR26.”

Aston Martin’s decision means Alonso will not be forced to miss an FP1 session for the remainder of the season having already met the rookie FP1 requirements for 2026 on his side of the garage.

Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll has sat out FP1 just once so far in F1 2026, with the Canadian missing opening practice at last month’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Stroll will be required to sit out a further FP1 session across the remaining 12 rounds.

Crawford outpaced Alonso in his last FP1 outing in Austria, finishing the session two places ahead of the two-time world champion in 20th position.

The American’s fastest lap time was 0.131 seconds quicker than Alonso. He was previously a full second slower than Stroll at Suzuka in March.

The Belgian Grand Prix has reverted to a standard race weekend format for 2026 having been a Sprint event in both 2023 and 2025.

With three practice sessions available, as opposed to a single FP1 session on a Sprint weekend, the change has opened the door for teams to field rookie drivers in Friday’s opening hour of practice.

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