Leclerc to miss opening one-hour practice in Spielberg

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will miss the opening practice at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix as he will hand over his SF-25 to Ferrari Academy member Dino Beganovic.

It will not be a completely new territory for Beganovic as he has already completed a practice outing earlier in the year in FP1 at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old driver is competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and he currently sits in tenth place in the drivers standings. Beganovic has been a member of the Ferrari junior programme since 2020. He competed in the FIA Formula 3 series in 2023 and 2024, finishing sixth in both seasons.

The Swedish driver deputised for the Monegasque driver in Sakhir as well, as part of the sporting regulation that mandated that every regular driver needs to sit out two practice sessions.

Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is yet to hand over his car later the season. Beganovic's second practice outing means that the Italian squad will have satisfied half of its mandated four rookie FP1 sessions for the current campaign.