BWT Alpine Formula One Team heads to the Hungaroring, on the outskirts of Budapest, for Round 11 of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the sport's summer shutdown.

As the season reaches its halfway point, the team returns to the site of its outstanding victory in a wet-dry thriller with Esteban Ocon in 2021 - the first of the Alpine name in Formula One. Five years on from the momentous result, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto will aim to head into the summer break on a positive note. Franco will, however, have to wait a few extra days as he takes part in a Pirelli tyre test following the event.

The tight and twisty circuit has often been likened to a go-kart track with relentless corners and short straights, in contrast to the two previous races at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone. After the pit-straight and opening sector, the track continuously snakes through technical corners which makes finding a consistent rhythm important for every lap.

Reserve Driver, Paul Aron, will make his first appearance of the season for the team in Free Practice 1, taking over Franco's car and fulfilling the first of the mandatory young driver practice sessions of the season.

The Belgian Grand Prix was an encouraging one for the Alpine Academy with strong points finishes for Alex Dunne in both the Sprint and Feature races. Gabriele Mini fought through the field on Sunday morning to finish in fifth and remains second in the standings as the championship heads to Hungary. Kush Maini returns to the track where he won his first FIA Formula 2 race in 2024.

Pierre Gasly: "After a few days rest following Spa, I am ready to take on the Hungaroring this weekend as we aim to go into the break with some positivity. In recent weeks, it has been a lot more challenging for us with some of our rivals making our life much harder in and around the top ten both in Qualifying and on race day. We know what we have to do to improve but we have to accept it's not an overnight fix. There are a few things we know we can do better so that will be the focus this weekend; executing some small details and trying to maximise our end result. The Hungaroring brings a very different challenge to that of Spa or Silverstone, the last two races we have had. It's much more technical, different conditions and it will be interesting to see what it's like in this current generation of car. I was disappointed not to score in Spa, so I go to Budapest hungry and motivated for a good team result."

Franco Colapinto: "I was very happy to score a point on Sunday in Spa after a long race battling with Pierre and Liam [Lawson], which brought a lot of action. We looked to be a bit stronger relative to our opponents in Belgium than previously and will aim to continue that form into Budapest this weekend even though the circuit is a completely different challenge. The track is one I've had some success at in my junior career and I'm looking forward to returning and experiencing it in this year's cars. The energy management will be more normal relative to the last two events with so many corners so hopefully we will be able to have a lot of fun with the lighter cars we have this year. We will be pushing hard all weekend to bring home a good result and score more points before we head into the summer break."

Paul Aron: "I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the A526 for my first Free Practice 1 with the team this season. I have driven the car in our simulator back in Enstone all year and it will be very valuable to get on track and get a feel myself for the real thing. I had very positive performances last season in the three FP1s I did with the team and I'm personally aiming to build on those opportunities and to help in the best way I can for the rest of the weekend."