Alpine Racing has loaned Paul Aron for FP1 run with Sauber Motorsport in two rounds to help them fulfil its FIA rookie requirements.
BWT Alpine Formula One Team confirms an agreement with Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber for the driving services of Reserve Driver Paul Aron. Paul will therefore take part in two Free Practice 1 sessions with Sauber at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone and at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in July to fulfil the Swiss team’s mandatory rookie Free Practice outing requirement set in the FIA regulations.
Estonian Paul remains a key member of BWT Alpine Formula One Team as Reserve Driver as he continues his career development in contemporary machinery. In addition to the Sauber outings, he will complete the team’s three remaining mandatory rookie sessions in 2025, dates of which will be confirmed in due course.
Since joining the team last December, Paul has been an important asset on the driver-in-loop simulator in both 2025 and 2026 car development work, as well as participating in six days in the 2023-spec A523 Formula One car as part of the team’s testing of previous cars (TPC) programme. Paul’s first taste in Formula One came in last season’s young driver test in Abu Dhabi where he drove the A524 days after he was announced as the team’s Reserve Driver.
Paul Aron: “I am very pleased to be given the opportunity to have valuable track time in Formula One, so thanks to BWT Alpine Formula One Team for coming to this arrangement. It is no secret that my desire is to one day race full-time in Formula One so any chance to be on track in a competitive environment is an important stepping stone. While I continue to focus on my development with Alpine, I do look forward to the two sessions with Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber and giving my maximum effort to them at Silverstone and Budapest.”
Flavio Briatore: “It is in our interests to maximise any driving opportunities for our young talent, so it is good to have an agreement with Sauber for Paul to drive in Free Practice 1 in Silverstone and Budapest. We are seeing varied success from last year’s Formula 2 drivers this year up and down the grid, and Paul was a front runner in that category, so this is an opportunity for him and the team to continue his progress and to give him valuable track time.”
FP1 rookie sessions completed thus far (per team needs to do four sessions) –
McLaren: Alex Dunne (Lando Norris, Austria)
Ferrari: Dino Beganovic (Charles Leclerc, Bahrain & Austria)
Red Bull: Ayumu Iwasa (Max Verstappen, Bahrain)
Mercedes: Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Australia, China); Frederick Vesti (George Russell, Bahrain)
Williams: Luke Browning (Carlos Sainz, Bahrain); Victor Martins (Alexander Albon, Spain)
Visa Cash App RB: Isack Hadjar (Australia, China)
Haas: Ryo Hirakawa (Oliver Bearman, Bahrain; Esteban Ocon, Spain)
Aston Martin: Felipe Drugovich (Fernando Alonso, Bahrain)
Alpine: Jack Doohan/Ryo Hirakawa (Australia, Japan)
Sauber: Gabriel Bortoleto (Australia, China)
[The story is as per press release]
