Lando Norris will be replaced for first practice in Austria as McLaren will send Irish F2 driver Alex Dunne out in his place.
The Irish racer is currently competing in the Formula 2 championship with two victories already under his belt. Ferrari has also decided to replace Charles Leclerc with Dino Beganovic for the second time this season.
The Swedish youngster has already taken the wheel of the Ferrari at the Bahrain Grand Prix, impressing the higher-ups with his work behind the wheel.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to drive during FP1 in Austria," Dunne said as the news was announced on Monday.
Lando Norris has won three races for McLaren this yearReuters"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 tests in the MCL60 and spending time on the simulator, which has been a fantastic learning experience.
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"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.”
“It’s great to be able to give Alex the opportunity to run in Free Practice One, and for him to get valuable time behind the wheel of a Formula One car as part of his development," team principal Stella added.
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Lando Norris crashed out of Canadian Grand Prix
Getty"The team are pleased to be working with him more closely, and for his support across the weekend, where he will be providing useful feedback to help with the car’s set-up.
"The rookie sessions are fantastic for seeing the talent of tomorrow and enabling that rare chance to get time in a current car, so we look forward to seeing him on track.”
With Dunne behind the wheel, Norris will miss out on his first time in the car since he crashed into the back of his teammate during the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix, and gave his teammate Oscar Piastri a significant point advantage.
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Following the crash, Norris took full responsibility for the incident:
“No one to blame but myself,” he said. “So I apologise to the whole team, and to Oscar as well, for attempting something probably a bit too silly.
"So yeah, glad I didn’t ruin his race and, again, apologies to the team.
Oscar Piastri is currently leading the drivers championship Reuters“I just thought Oscar would move a bit to the right, not to leave a gap obviously, I don’t expect something to be easy from him but I just misjudged it.”
The Australian travels to the Red Bull Ring with a 22-point advantage over Norris in the driver standings, while third-placed Max Verstappen has now closed to within 21 points of the Briton following a better weekend for the Red Bull driver.
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