Franco Colapinto has reportedly been given the remainder of the season to salvage his Formula One career. The Argentine driver’s position at Alpine has been increasingly questioned due to his failure to secure a single point since replacing Jack Doohan earlier this year.
Colapinto was recruited during the off-season from Williams, where he had raced nine times in the 2024 season but was not retained due to a lack of space in their driver line-up. Initially joining Alpine as a reserve driver, his mere presence hinted at Doohan’s impending departure. Indeed, that proved to be the case. After failing to score any points in the first six rounds of the season, Doohan was demoted to a reserve role and Colapinto was promoted to a race seat.
The press release from Alpine in May, announcing the switch, stated that Colapinto had been given an initial five-race period to prove his worth. Eight races later, the 22-year-old is still in the seat, despite some lacklustre results and failing to score points in the A525.
He has only managed to finish above 15th place in a Grand Prix twice, thanks to two 13th-place finishes in Monaco and Canada. His cause was not helped this week when he crashed during a Pirelli tyre test at the Hungaroring.
An Alpine spokesperson confirmed that Colapinto was assessed by on-site medics and was uninjured, despite losing control of the car at turn 11 and crashing into a barrier.
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Despite the team’s struggles, Flavio Briatore, technically an adviser to the Renault board but effectively in charge of the struggling F1 outfit, has publicly called for more patience with Colapinto. According to a report from PlanetF1, it appears that the team is planning to stick with Colapinto for the immediate future.
As things stand, he will continue to race for the team after the summer break and may have until the end of the season to improve his form. However, if his performance continues to disappoint, a change has not been completely ruled out.
Doohan is keen for another opportunity to prove himself, while Alpine also have Paul Aron waiting in the wings for his first chance to compete in F1. Aron, who finished third in last year’s Formula Two championship behind Isack Hadjar and champion Gabriel Bortoleto, signed a reserve deal with Alpine and has represented both the Enstone team and Sauber in practice sessions this year.
