His current role as a reserve includes tasks that are invisible to the public but essential for the teams, such as hours of work in the simulator, traveling to Grands Prix, and his participation in tests and free practices, among others.
Alpine's reserve driver spoke about his present with the French team, his view of his current role, and his difficulties
His current role as a reserve includes tasks that are invisible to the public but essential for the teams, such as hours of work in the simulator, traveling to Grands Prix, and his participation in tests and free practices, among others.
Regarding that dynamic and what it meant to take it on, Aron was candid: "I went through cycles several times during the year in which I enjoyed what I was doing, then I realized that I was still a reserve driver and I started telling myself that I wasn't happy with this situation. Then I realized that I had to accept it and that the only thing that would help me was to give it my all."
According to him, this silent work is not like what he dreamed of. "I'm a racing driver and I didn't come to Formula 1 to, in theory, play a video game. The people watching you, the tension, the adrenaline... you don't have all that in a simulator," he commented.
In 2026, Aron will continue as one of Alpine's three reserves, together with Indian driver Kush Maini and Australian driver Jack Doohan. On the other side of the garage, the starters will be Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, who will face his first full season in the top category and hopes that next year will finally be the definitive takeoff.
In Formula 1 people fight to arrive, to stay, and to avoid ending up forgotten. That is Paul Aron's challenge, a 21-year-old Estonian driver and current reserve for Alpine, who, when reviewing his path to the category, not only highlighted the difficulties of the process, but also drew a direct comparison with Franco Colapinto, who is currently a starter for the French team.
"For a boy whose country of origin is Argentina, it's easier to find fans, sponsors, and money than for me, since I come from Estonia, where there are 1.3 million inhabitants. My career path has undoubtedly been much more complicated," he stated in a conversation with Vikerraadio, a media outlet from his country, where he emphasized that his career advanced "as it could" with the resources available.
Aron revealed that the role of reserve driver creates a strong internal conflict for him. Although it allowed him to join two structures (Alpine and Sauber) and be present on race weekends, it is not a position that he wants to occupy in the long term: "I've been doing it for a year and, to be honest, according to my logic, two years is the maximum. In Formula 1, new young drivers arrive every year, there are new talents, and the longer you stay as a reserve, the more time you lose yourself in the fog."
