McLaren confirm Lando Norris driver swap for Austrian Grand Prix session

McLaren have confirmed that F1 title hopeful Lando Norris will not take part in FP1 at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Norris currently trails his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the drivers' standings, and heads into this weekend off the back of a disastrous outing in Canada last time out that saw the Brit collide with the Aussie.

Despite this, McLaren still needs to fulfil their quota of having rookie drivers stepping into both of their cars on two occasions throughout 2025, up from one per car in 2024.

Due to this, Norris will sit out the first session in Spielberg, with Irishman Alex Dunne instead taking his seat in FP1.

Norris will then return to his car for FP2 later in the same day, as he resumes his championship battle with Piastri and 2024 rival Max Verstappen.

READ MORE: Lando Norris offers verdict on future Indy 500 attempt

Who is Alex Dunne?

19-year-old Dunne joined McLaren's books in 2024, and he has had a remarkable rise since then.

Dunne was promoted from F3 into F2 for 2025, and currently leads the F2 championship having claimed two wins and four podiums from his opening 11 races in the series.

Now, the former F4 British championship winner is being rewarded with his official F1 debut, and Dunne revealed in a statement quite how excited he is for the role.

"It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to drive during FP1 in Austria," he said. "I’m really looking forward to getting laps in behind the wheel of the MCL39 and supporting the team with the setup for the race weekend ahead.

"I’ve been preparing well for the sessions, taking part in Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) tests in the MCL60 and spending time on the simulator, which has been a fantastic learning experience.

"Thank you to Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella] and Alessandro [Alunni Bravi] for their faith in me. It’s a great step within my development with the McLaren driver development programme, and I’m really excited to join the team trackside."

READ MORE: F1 champ Max Verstappen tipped for Red Bull exit ahead of 2026

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