Aston Martin F1 team announce Fernando Alonso replacement at Belgian Grand Prix

Aston Martin

Aston Martin announce Fernando Alonso replacement at Belgian Grand Prix

Jak Crawford will be swapping in for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 13 July 2026 16:50

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Aston Martin have announced that two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso will not be taking part in FP1 at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso has been struggling throughout 2026 to make a real difference for the team, only picking up one world championship point from nine race weekends as the Silverstone outfit have struggled with reliability and performance issues.

The 44-year-old has also been outqualified by his team-mate Lance Stroll on two occasions recently, having not been outqualified by Stroll for the entirety of the 2025 season.

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Now, with Aston Martin upgrades coming within the next few race weekends, it really is crunch time for Alonso, as he decides whether or not to sign a new contract at Aston Martin, with his current deal coming to an end at the end of this season.

But he is set to be replaced for FP1 at the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend, with the team opting to use the session to try and fill their rookie driver quota.

Reserve driver Jak Crawford will step into the AMR26 for the first practice session, before Alonso gets his car back later on Friday.

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Crawford replaces Alonso for FP1

F1 rules state that all teams must run rookies at least twice per season in each of their cars, a rule designed to give F2 and F3 stars some time in an F1 car.

Crawford finished runner-up last year in the F2 championship, and was announced as Aston Martin's official reserve driver at the end of last season, following the departure from the team of Felipe Drugovich.

This will be Crawford's third practice session of the season, and he will have the unenviable task of helping to get the troublesome AMR26 into the right window performance-wise for the rest of the weekend.

Crawford was recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he raced Aston Martin's 2025 car up the Goodwood hillclimb, and he has also had a number of testing events this season in the AMR26.

The American is looking to impress Aston Martin, knowing that at least one seat at the team could be open come the end of this season.

F1 Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Belgian Grand Prix Jak Crawford