The young drivers Jak Crawford and Victor Martins will both be present this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix, but in very different roles.
Read more Lewis Hamilton calms expectations: «I’m not thinking about the championship»
Reserve and test driver for Aston Martin, Jak Crawford will participate in the first free practice session on Friday morning.
The American will take the wheel of the AMR26 in place of Fernando Alonso, as part of the FIA’s requirement for teams to run young drivers during several FP1 sessions throughout the season.
Crawford will replace Alonso in FP1
This will be his third appearance in free practice this year, after already participating in the FP1 sessions of the Japanese and Austrian Grands Prix. He will then have one last session to complete the program planned by Aston Martin.
Crawford thus continues to gain experience behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. Last weekend, he also drove the previous season’s AMR25 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In a statement, Aston Martin confirmed his participation: “We are pleased to announce that Jak Crawford will be back behind the wheel of the AMR26 this weekend at Spa for FP1. He will replace Fernando Alonso as part of the four sessions reserved for young drivers this season.”
Martins will serve as reserve driver
On his side, Victor Martins will not drive but will occupy the role of reserve driver at Williams. The Frenchman replaces Luke Browning, who is in Japan competing in a round of the Super Formula championship.
Read more Lando Norris receives a heavy penalty on the starting grid of the Belgian Grand Prix
Williams specifies: “Williams Racing confirms that Victor Martins will serve as reserve driver for the Belgian Grand Prix, replacing Luke Browning, who is engaged in Super Formula in Japan.”
This will be Martins’ second time in this role this season, after the Canadian Grand Prix. A member of the Williams Driver Academy since 2025, Martins was promoted to test and development driver in 2026.
Behind-the-scenes work
Since the start of the season, he has been working closely with Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz, and the Grove engineers to contribute to the development of the FW48 and the preparation of setups during race weekends.
Unlike Crawford, the Frenchman will not take to the track at Spa: his only official FP1 appearance dates back to the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. Previously, he was part of the Alpine Academy, taking part in several TPC (Testing Previous Cars) sessions in F1 before racing for the French brand in WEC.
Alpine now relies on Nikola Tsolov and Gabriele Mini, its two juniors in Formula 2, but has not yet announced their debuts in official free practice sessions after their ongoing preparation in TPC and the simulator at Enstone.
At Spa, while Crawford will continue his learning directly behind the wheel of the AMR26, Martins will keep gaining experience from behind the scenes, supporting Williams in its operations throughout the Belgian weekend.