When the FP1 timing screens lit up at Suzuka on Friday morning, a familiar name was missing from the Aston Martin garage: Fernando Alonso. In his place, a 20-year-old American with just two previous FP1 appearances to his name took the wheel of the AMR26. For many fans, one question immediately came to mind: who exactly is Jak Crawford?
A Rising Star From The Red Bull Academy
Jak Crawford is not a complete newcomer to the world of top-level motorsport. Formerly a Red Bull junior, Crawford joined Aston Martin’s junior ranks in 2024 and was runner-up in Formula 2, and currently has no full-time racing programme. It is a career path that many F1 fans will recognise: a highly talented young driver working his way through the junior ladder, accumulating experience wherever he can while waiting for his shot at a race seat.
In 2026, Crawford serves as Aston Martin’s official Third Driver, a role that goes far beyond simply sitting in the simulator. His extensive simulator work has been a key part of his role, and he has already accumulated over 3,000km in Aston Martin Formula One cars. That is serious mileage, enough to know the car inside out, even before setting foot on a race weekend circuit.
His Suzuka Debut: What Happened On Track?
Suzuka is one of the most unforgiving circuits on the calendar, a place where experience counts for everything. For Crawford, Friday’s session was a first. Suzuka is a circuit he has never driven at before. That made the challenge even greater.
Crawford ended the session in P22, the final position on the timing sheet, finishing +4.696 seconds off the pace of session leader George Russell, completing just 11 laps. The lap count tells its own story. With limited track time and a completely new circuit to learn, the priority was clearly data gathering and building familiarity rather than chasing lap times.
To put it in context, his teammate Lance Stroll, a driver who knows this circuit well, ended up in P21, just ahead of him, +3.628 seconds off the pace. It was a tough session for the whole Aston Martin camp.
What This Session Really Means
It would be easy to look at P22 and write Crawford off, but that would be missing the point entirely. This outing fulfils one of the team’s mandated rookie sessions this season, and it marks Jak’s first FP1 appearance as the team’s Third Driver.
Aston Martin’s Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack was clear about the goals for the session: Crawford’s development and the team’s wider programme were both key priorities. In other words, every lap, every data point, every piece of feedback Crawford brings back to the engineers has value, regardless of where it shows up on the timing sheet.
Crawford himself came into the weekend with excitement rather than nerves, eager to translate his simulator hours into real-world performance at one of the sport’s most iconic venues.
And Where Was Alonso?
The man Crawford replaced on Friday was watching proceedings from the garage, and the reason is a very human one. Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso has become a father, and will skip all scheduled media activities to spend time with his family. His team confirmed full support for the decision, emphasising the importance of the moment in Alonso’s personal life.
Alonso is expected to return later during the weekend, meaning he should be back behind the wheel for FP2 and beyond. But for one Friday morning session at Suzuka, there were clearly more important things than lap times.
It is a rare and genuinely touching moment in a sport that rarely slows down: one of F1’s greatest ever champions stepping back, just for a day, to be a father first.
The Bigger Picture
Crawford’s FP1 outing, Alonso’s brief absence, and the circumstances surrounding both tell a story that goes beyond the timing screens. A legend making way for new beginnings, both on and off the track. Keep an eye on Jak Crawford. He may be at the back of the grid today, but the path he is on looks very familiar to anyone who has followed F1 long enough.
