A replacement for Charles Leclerc at the Austrian Grand Prix has been announced by Ferrari, with the star missing free practice one.
Ferrari has confirmed that junior driver Dino Beganovic will replace Charles Leclerc for the opening free practice session at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
The announcement continues a pattern of FP1 appearances for the 22-year-old Swede, who has been steadily building his track time with the Scuderia. Beganovic last took to the wheel in Barcelona, where he stepped into Lewis Hamilton’s car ahead of a race that would go on to make history for the seven-time world champion.
The Formula 2 racer finished eighth in that Barcelona practice session, finishing around 0.9 seconds behind Leclerc, who had placed third. Hamilton, despite giving up his car on Friday, went on to claim a landmark win on race day — his 106th career victory and his first since July 2024. The result also ended Ferrari’s own drought, marking the team’s first race win since Carlos Sainz triumphed at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix.
Beganovic’s return to action in Austria is not simply a coaching exercise. Formula 1 regulations require all constructors to run a rookie driver — defined as someone who has started no more than two grands prix — in at least four practice sessions per season, with a minimum of two appearances in each car on the grid. His stint in Leclerc’s SF-25 on Friday ticks off one of those mandatory slots, meaning both Leclerc and Hamilton will each need to give up their car in one further session across the remaining 14 rounds of the 2026 campaign.
This is not Beganovic’s first visit to the Red Bull Ring in a Ferrari. He also deputised for Leclerc there during the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix weekend, as well as at the season opener in Bahrain that same year.
Ferrari are not alone in fielding rookies during FP1 in Austria. Jak Crawford will take over Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, Luke Browning will run in place of Carlos Sainz at Williams, and Paul Aron steps into Gabriel Bortoleto’s seat at Audi.
The session comes at a difficult moment in Leclerc’s season. After opening the 2026 campaign with podiums in Australia and Japan, the Monegasque has hit a rough patch. He retired from his home race in Monaco after the circuit surface began to break apart under race conditions, then compounded his troubles with a qualifying accident in Barcelona. His weekend there was further complicated by an experiment with Carbone Industrie brake discs — a departure from Ferrari’s long-standing supplier Brembo — with the mixed brake material setup thought to be closely tied to the improvement in Hamilton’s recent pace and performance.
Despite the on-track difficulties, Leclerc’s long-term future at the team has been secured. He signed a new Ferrari contract ahead of Monaco, with reports indicating the deal runs beyond 2030 — making him the first driver on the current grid to commit to his existing team past the end of the decade.
With Hamilton now carrying momentum from his Barcelona win and Leclerc seeking to rediscover his early-season form, the dynamics within the Ferrari garage will be under close scrutiny throughout the Austrian weekend. Beganovic’s Friday morning stint will reduce Leclerc’s available preparation time, though as Barcelona demonstrated, Hamilton showed that losing FP1 track time does not necessarily translate into a compromised result come Sunday.