F1 News: Lewis Hamilton to get new Ferrari team-mate at Austrian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Australia, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Austrian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton to get new Ferrari team-mate at Austrian Grand Prix

Another F1 driver change will take place in Austria this weekend

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 24 June 2026 20:12

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Ferrari have announced that seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton will be joined by a different team-mate on track ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc prepares to step aside.

It was Hamilton who handed his machinery over to Ferrari driver academy member Dino Beganovic in Barcelona last time out, before stepping back into the SF-26 for the rest of the weekend.

The British star then struggled after getting very little running in at the wheel of his Ferrari in FP2, admitting to media: "Normally, it’s okay to miss FP1, but it had a huge offset."

But that disadvantage Hamilton spoke of didn't last long.

The 41-year-old went on to enjoy a historic Sunday in Catalonia as he brought an end to his 686-day grand prix victory drought, secured his first win in red and broke the record for the most wins at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (seven).

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Leclerc on the other hand suffered yet another disappointing outing, picking up his second DNF in as many races after he was forced to retire on lap 62 with a mechanical issue.

And Ferrari have just confirmed that it is now his turn to hand over his car for FP1, once again for Beganovic.

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Leclerc to step aside for Beganovic at Red Bull Ring

Ahead of this weekend's race at the Red Bull Ring, Ferrari announced that academy driver and F2 star Dino Beganovic will be piloting Leclerc's car for FP1 to help fulfill the Scuderia's rookie driver quota for 2026.

In a post on their official social media accounts, Ferrari confirmed: "Jumping back in the SF-26 in Spielberg, Dino Beganovic will drive in FP1 this weekend."

Beganovic will replace Leclerc for FP1 in Austria.

This means it won't be Leclerc's name joining Hamilton up on the timing charts for the first practice session on Friday, but instead Beganovic's.

The driver swap shouldn't harm Leclerc's weekend and is instead designed to help Beganovic get valuable track time at the wheel of an F1 car before jumping straight into proceedings for the sixth round of his F2 season.

Beganovic's outing in Austria will mark his second session in an F1 car in as many race weekends after taking to the track as one of seven rookies handed the chance to take part in FP1 in Barcelona.

Assuming everything goes to plan for the Swedish-Bosnian racer, Leclerc will jump back into the car for FP2 at 5pm local time (CEST). For the full F1 weekend schedule, click here.

Jumping back in the SF-26 in Spielberg, @DinoBeganovic4 will drive in FP1 this weekend ? pic.twitter.com/ENAg5gsJWq
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) June 24, 2026

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring