Alpine loans F1 reserve Aron to Sauber for FP1 outings

Alpine has signed an agreement with Sauber to loan out reserve driver Paul Aron, with the Estonian taking part in FP1 for Sauber in Silverstone and Budapest.

Sauber doesn’t have any designated reserve drivers this year, and it still needed to find a rookie driver to run in two of the four required FP1 sessions across the 2025 season.

The future Audi squad has now signed a deal with Alpine for former F2 frontrunner Aron, who is part of Alpine’s reserve roster this year.

Aron will step into Sauber’s C45 in first free practice this weekend at Silverstone, deputising for Nico Hulkenberg before resuming his Alpine reserve duties for the remainder of the weekend. The 21-year-old will replace Hulkenberg again at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break.

Sauber’s other two rookies slots are already taken care of by Gabriel Bortoleto, who took his first points last weekend with eighth in the Austrian Grand Prix.

“I am very pleased to be given the opportunity to have valuable track time in Formula 1, so thanks to the Alpine Formula 1 team for coming to this arrangement,” Aron commented.

“It is no secret that my desire is to one day race full-time in Formula 1 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 Sauber and giving my maximum effort to them at Silverstone and Budapest.”

Aron, who has had a busy private testing programme with Alpine this year, will also cover the Enstone squad’s remaining FP1 duties.

Alpine is expected to continue with Franco Colapinto as Pierre Gasly’s team-mate for the time being after a tough five-race stint, although de facto team chief Flavio Briatore has urged the Argentinian to step up his performance.

Meanwhile, F1’s rumour mill has connected Mercedes reserve driver and 10-time grand prix winner Valtteri Bottas with the squad as a potential option should Colapinto’s fortunes not improve.