Paul Aron returns as Sauber make Hungarian GP FP1 announcement

Paul Aron will be back behind the wheel for Sauber in the opening practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

It will be a repeat of his F1 debut at the British Grand Prix, as Aron once again replaces Nico Hulkenberg for FP1 in Hungary.

Hungarian Grand Prix: Paul Aron to make second FP1 appearance

Additional reporting by Henry Valantine

Aron – formerly a member of the Mercedes Junior Team – signed with Alpine in time for the 2025 season to serve as their reserve driver. Yet, it was with Sauber that Aron made his race weekend debut.

An agreement was struck between Alpine and Sauber which saw Aron contest FP1 at Silverstone with the latter, as the Estonian readies for a second FP1 appearance with the Swiss squad in Hungary.

Like at Silverstone, Aron will once more replace F1 veteran Hulkenberg for Hungary FP1, partnering impressive Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.

Paul Aron: Future F1 star?

Aron established himself as one of the brightest young drivers on the ladder to Formula 1, going from P3 in the 2023 Formula 3 standings – his sole season in the category – to contending for the Formula 2 crown in his rookie season, once more finishing P3 by the end of the year.

With no place on the F1 2025 grid emerging – and his Mercedes ties coming to an end – Aron joined forces with Alpine as their F1 2025 reserve driver, and continues to build experience with his Sauber FP1 outings.

Aron finished his Silverstone FP1 session seventeenth, a quarter of a second up on Bortoleto, and has his sights firmly set on an F1 2026 race seat.

Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

“My goal this year is simple,” he declared to PlanetF1.com at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

“I want to get a full-time race seat, and I’m not in a rush. I don’t need it this year, but I want it, at the latest, for next year.

“Everything I do this year is aimed towards that. Being here as the reserve driver at Alpine, my role is to stay ready and, whenever a driver gets injured, to be up to date to jump in.

“On top of that, my duties are simulator work and doing stuff like this, coming to Goodwood, and so on.

“But, at the same time, my goal is to find a full-time seat. So whatever I get to do, I try to do it as best as possible. I think what I’ve shown Alpine, they are very happy with what they’ve seen, but obviously, the rest of the world hasn’t seen anything about me because I haven’t been taking part in official sessions.”

On the chance to represent Sauber as well as Alpine in FP1 outings, Aron added: “Any mileage in a Formula 1 car is going to be useful.

“The fact that I got two more FP1s, thanks to Sauber, is great for me, more mileage and more mileage on different tracks.

“I guess it’s always a benefit to be driving different cars, but at the same time, I’m not going to be driving them on the same tracks, and it’s going to be very different conditions, and it’s still going to be difficult to compare.

“Also, I need to play fair between the teams, because it’s been very nice from Alpine to lend me to a rivaling team to do some FP1s, and it’s been very nice from Sauber to accept that and to have that interest.

“So, at the same time, I need to be fair and try to play it as well as possible for both of them.”

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