Fernando Alonso suffers injury and could miss Hungarian GP as replacement named

Fernando Alonso's participation at the Hungarian Grand Prix is in doubt after suffering a muscular injury to his back. His Aston Martin team has confirmed that the Spaniard will not take part in first practice in Budapest, with reserve driver Felipe Drugovich filling in.

It has not yet been decided whether Alonso will be able to race this weekend. If not, then Drugovich will continue to drive for the team and will be in line to make his long-awaited competitive Formula 1 debut, alongside their other driver Lance Stroll.

A statement from the team read: "In the days following the Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso has been managing a muscular injury in his back. As he continues with treatment this morning, he has chosen to sit out of FP1.

"Felipe Drugovich will drive in FP1 alongside Lance Stroll. A decision will then be made on Fernando's participation in FP2 and the remainder of the weekend in due course."

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Alonso is the oldest current driver on the F1 grid, having turned 44 on Tuesday this week. He has been experiencing pain in his back since last weekend's race at Spa-Francorchamps, where he finished 17th and a long way off the points as Aston Martin suffered a dismal weekend in the Ardennes Forest.

Drugovich has taken part in several free practice sessions for Aston Martin and so is an experienced operator in that regard. But he has yet to race in F1, having been stuck on the sidelines as the team's reserve driver since winning the Formula 2 title in 2022.

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To be eligible to take part in the race, Drugovich must qualify and, to do that, he will have to take part in at least one of the three free practice sessions scheduled. As he is definitely driving in FP1, the team will not have to make a final decision on who will drive that car until after final practice on Saturday lunchtime.

It gives Alonso the wiggle room, if he feels up to it, to try to drive in one of those remaining practice sessions to see if he can manage the strain. If he cannot, then Drugovich's participation in FP1 will be enough to ensure he can drive in qualifying and then, on Sunday, in the Grand Prix.

Alonso is currently contracted to Aston Martin for the 2026 season, keeping him in F1 until he is at least 45. He has yet not made any commitment to continue racing in the sport beyond then, but confirmed he will assess how his body is holding up – and whether or not he enjoys the new regulations coming into force – next year.

"I wanted to race this year for sure and next year for sure because of the change of regulations," he said in April. "I wanted to experience the 2026 rules and [new engine supplier] Honda coming to the team. These were things that were appealing last year when we sat together and negotiated the contract. After 2026, I will go season by season. I will see how I feel, how motivated I am."