Aston Martin has significantly expanded its junior program, and this is probably not the end yet. The leader of their program in 2026 is Jak Crawford, the American hopes to debut in F1, but it will be a difficult task.
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History and assumptions of Aston Martin’s junior program
Aston Martin officially launched its junior program in April 2025 with the announcement that Mari Boya became its first full member. The team owned by Lawrence Stroll had supported young drivers before. From September 2022 until the end of 2025, Felipe Drugovich was their protégé, during which time he had many F1 car drives. Aston Martin has ambitions to be a top team in F1, and every top team has its own junior program.
Aston Martin’s program works closely with the DPK Racing karting team, which uses Fernando Alonso’s karts. The Spanish driver is heavily involved in the topic of young drivers. Interestingly, a similar agreement was not concluded with the Honda Formula Dream Project development program, even though Honda previously cooperated with Red Bull’s junior program during their engine partnership.
Aston Martin Development Program Line-up in 2026
Below is the line-up of Aston Martin’s junior program in 2026, in alphabetical order. Next to each name, I provide their nationality and year of birth, and below that, the racing series and teams they will compete with in the 2026 season. The line-up includes four male drivers and two female drivers.
Mari Boya – Spain – 2004
FIA Formula 2 Championship – Prema Racing
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – Comtoyou Racing
Zhenrui Chi – China – 2009
Formula Regional Middle East Trophy – CL Motorsport
Formula Regional European Championship – MP Motorsport
Jak Crawford – USA – 2005
Full-time F1 reserve driver
Ava Lawrence – Australia – 2015
Karting
Roland Nagy – Hungary – 2012
Karting
Mathilda Paatz – Germany – 2008
F1 Academy – Prema Racing
Formula Winter Series – Mathilda Racing
Formula 4 CEZ Championship – Mathilda Racing
Changes in Ferrari’s junior program at the beginning of 2026
Felipe Drugovich and Tina Hausmann left Aston Martin after the 2025 season. Drugovich was associated with the team for several years as a junior and reserve driver. He has dozens of F1 car test days and many practice sessions under his belt. He had all the necessary assets (including sponsors) to get into F1. The Brazilian made a mistake by joining Aston Martin, as there was no place for him there. He abandoned his hopes for F1 and moved to Formula E, and will probably also compete in endurance races in the future. Tina Hausmann left because she competed in F1 Academy for two years, and longer is not allowed due to regulations. In recent months, Aston Martin has acquired four new drivers for its junior program: Zhenrui Chi, Ava Lawrence, Roland Nagy, and Mathilda Paatz.
Overview of drivers from Aston Martin’s development program at the beginning of 2026
Aston Martin strives to have drivers at various career levels. Jak Crawford has already finished competing in junior series, where he had decent results, including a second-place finish in F2 in the 2025 season. In 2026, he is a full-time F1 test driver and is expected to receive practice sessions and several tests with an old car. Crawford dreams of an F1 debut, but he will only get such a chance if Lance Stroll vacates a spot at Aston Martin. If Alonso leaves, the Stroll – Crawford pairing would be too weak for a team with such ambitions. Crawford will certainly try very hard, but at the moment, the chances of him getting a real opportunity are low.
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Mari Boya is also in Aston Martin’s program, having debuted in Formula 2 this year. He is a driver with decent results in junior series, but due to his age, it’s difficult to expect him to be a serious candidate for future F1 drives. He would probably need to win the F2 championship this year for that. Boya joined Aston Martin’s junior ranks thanks to Fernando Alonso’s support.
A new acquisition is the Chinese driver (who also holds Italian citizenship) Zhenrui Chi. So far, his results in junior series have not stood out at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was hired due to his sponsors or nationality. This year, he will compete in a regional series, where a very big challenge awaits him. Calling him “Zhou’s successor and another Chinese driver in F1” is a gross exaggeration, and I have seen such descriptions.
Every F1 team must support a female driver in F1 Academy, and in Aston Martin’s case, the choice fell on Mathilda Paatz.
Two young karting drivers – Ava Lawrence and Roland Nagy – who joined Aston Martin’s development program this season, compete with the DPK Racing team, so they were recommended by Fernando Alonso. As is often the case with such drivers, it takes several years to assess whether they are truly F1-caliber talents.
In addition to the aforementioned juniors, Aston Martin employs several other drivers in 2026. Stoffel Vandoorne is once again a reserve (alternating this role with Crawford), test, and simulator driver. The Belgian is a former F1 driver who currently competes in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the factory Peugeot team and is also a reserve driver in F1 and FE.
The team also includes highly experienced Pedro de la Rosa and Jenson Button, who officially serve as ambassadors. De la Rosa’s presence is linked to Fernando Alonso. Button joined this year, likely due to his connections with Honda. The team’s ambassador, and also the head of its F1 Academy program, is Jessica Hawkins, who currently competes in F1-class cars.
Summary of Aston Martin’s development program in 2026
Aston Martin already has a full-fledged junior program, but at the moment, no major talents are visible within it. Jak Crawford is the leader, and how this program will be perceived depends on his future. In theory, the American has everything to debut in F1. Will he get a chance in this team? In my opinion, the chances are very small, unless Lance Stroll suddenly ends his career. It is clear that Aston Martin relies heavily on Fernando Alonso, as half of the juniors are associated with him. Here I see greater hope that someone supported by this program since karting will eventually make it to F1, but that is a matter of many years.
Junior programs of other F1 teams in 2026
Most Formula 1 teams run junior (development) programs, and I will systematically discuss their line-ups for the 2026 season. On the blog, you will find a detailed overview of the McLaren program (details), Mercedes (details), Williams (details), Red Bull (details), and Ferrari (details). Currently, 11 teams compete in F1, possessing nine junior programs. Red Bull has a common program for two teams. In recent weeks, Haas launched its program in cooperation with Toyota, and Audi also launched a new program. The only team without a classic development program is Cadillac, but this team currently doesn’t need one. Instead, they support Colton Herta, who is preparing for his F1 debut.
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