Alpine reserve driver Paul Aron will make his debut in an official Formula 1 practice session this weekend for a rival team.
Aron’s debut has come about after Alpine agreed a deal for Aron to make two appearances for Sauber over the coming races. He will drive Nico Hulkenberg’s car in the first practice sessions for the British and Hungarian grands prix.
The deal will allow Sauber to satisfy the requirement under F1’s rules to give four practice sessions over to inexperienced drivers during the course of the season. They have already fulfilled this on Gabriel Bortoleto’s car as he is a rookie.
Aron has previously tested Alpine’s F1 cars on several occasions. He joined the team last year, when he finished third in Formula 2, but is not racing this season.
He was previously a member of Mercedes’ young driver programme from 2019 to 2023. He was dropped after finishing third in the 2023 Formula 3 championship, following which Mercedes chose to promote Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Formula Regional Europe to Formula 2.
Alpine began the season with four reserve drivers before releasing Ryo Hirakawa to join Haas. It then promoted Franco Colapinto to its race team and returned Jack Doohan to its reserve driver pool alongside Kush Maini.
F1 teams’ confirmed practice driver appearances for 2025
| Team | Car | Event | Practice driver | Event | Practice driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | 4 | Austrian Grand Prix | Alex Dunne | Mexican Grand Prix | Pato O’Ward (car TBC) |
| 81 | |||||
| Ferrari | 16 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Dino Beganovic | Austrian Grand Prix | Dino Beganovic |
| 44 | |||||
| Red Bull | 1 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Ayumu Iwasa | ||
| 22/30 | |||||
| Mercedes | 12 | Australian Grand Prix | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Chinese Grand Prix | Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
| 63 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Frederik Vesti | |||
| Aston Martin | 14 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Felipe Drugovich | ||
| 18 | |||||
| Alpine | 7/43 | Australian Grand Prix | Jack Doohan | Chinese Grand Prix | Jack Doohan |
| 10 | |||||
| Haas | 31 | Spanish Grand Prix | Ryo Hirakawa | Mexican Grand Prix | Ryo Hirakawa |
| 87 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Ryo Hirakawa | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Ryo Hirakawa | |
| Racing Bulls | 6 | Australian Grand Prix | Isack Hadjar | Chinese Grand Prix | Isack Hadjar |
| 30/22 | |||||
| Williams | 23 | Spanish Grand Prix | Victor Martins | ||
| 55 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Luke Browning | |||
| Sauber | 5 | Australian Grand Prix | Gabriel Bortoleto | Chinese Grand Prix | Gabriel Bortoleto |
| 27 | British Grand Prix | Paul Aron | Hungarian Grand Prix | Paul Aron |
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2025 British Grand Prix