Why Franco Colapinto is staying in Alpine's second F1 seat on a race-by-race basis

New York Times

5 hours ago

When Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams midway through the 2024 season, he took Formula One by storm.
He has not made the same impact at Alpine this year, but the 22-year-old has done enough to stay in the team's second seat for this weekend's British Grand Prix.
When it was announced that the Argentine would replace Jack Doohan for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May, Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore said, 'Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have decided to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races.'
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An assessment was planned to take place after last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix to evaluate how Alpine's contracted drivers compared to Pierre Gasly, with the experienced Frenchman's performance being used as a benchmark.
From this point, Alpine will continue assessing its driver lineup to determine the best drivers for 2026. It's not a done deal that Colapinto will finish the season, but he has done enough across his initial five weekends to at least warrant a sixth grand prix. Yet he faces different obstacles with this driver swap compared to his Williams stint, as he's only been with Alpine since January.
'If Colapinto is performing, he's driving the car. If not, we'll see — 2025 is a year we need to prepare ourselves for 2026,' Briatore said in Spain last month. 'So whatever experiment I need doing, we're doing. I don't know if Franco will stay for the season, but let's see. Depends on the performance.
'We're only looking at the performance — nothing else.'
Emilia-Romagna: It was a challenging first Alpine outing for Colapinto at Imola. He crashed during qualifying and was more conservative with his start on race day, losing positions that he did eventually recover. He finished in the same place he started, P16. He was undone by race strategy, too, as he had a few laps on hard tires when the safety car came out, and he struggled to keep up with those who had new tires.
Monaco: Colapinto qualified last, started P18 and recovered to P13. Alpine planned to use him to help Gasly make the most of the race's two mandatory pit stops, so the team started him on the hard tires — but when Gasly collided with Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda, Colapinto's strategy had a wrench thrown in. He pitted earlier as a result and points were always realistically out of the question.
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Spain: Briatore said in a news conference after the first practice (FP1) in Barcelona that this was 'the first real race of Franco.' The weekend ended in frustration as he couldn't show his full potential. His qualifying came to a premature end after he reported an issue over the radio while sitting in the pit lane, causing a queue to form behind him. Alpine 'identified a driveline issue' and had to replace the car's gearbox. He started from P18 and finished 15th, spending a chunk of the race stuck in traffic.
Canada: Colapinto took a step forward this weekend, admitting he 'felt more comfortable and at ease with the car' during qualifying. He made a mistake en route to qualifying P12 — touching the wall on his final run — but outqualified Gasly. He said in Alpine's post-session recap, 'Overall, I'm happy with the progression. I'm still finding my feet in the team and understanding where I need to go with the setup.' He started the race 10th and made a solid start, overtaking a few cars, but ended in P13. Traffic and strategy cost him, but the weekend could be considered a step in the right direction.
Austria: Colapinto didn't have the strongest practice day, finishing P16 while Gasly had the fifth-fastest lap in FP1, and plum last in FP2. He showed more pace in qualifying and advanced to Q2 for the second time with Alpine, but he couldn't join Gasly in Q3. On race day, both drivers struggled with tire degradation in the hot conditions, and Colapinto ended up in battles with Tsunoda. During one of these, Colapinto received a penalty for forcing Oscar Piastri off the track as the lead-contending McLaren came by to lap the pair. Colapinto was also racing with damage from an earlier tangle with Tsunoda.
These five races have been an adjustment for Colapinto. It's a new team, a new car and learning on the fly without preseason testing. He is at least familiar with the F1 world thanks to his Williams stint.
'We've been working hard in the team to understand which direction was making me more comfortable with the (car) setup,' Colapinto said in Austria. 'It's been a good job by everyone in the factory to help me, even when I was struggling, to bring me up to speed again.'
Colapinto feels Alpine has found his ideal setup. After four of his first five races, Colapinto entered the Austrian GP weekend feeling 'more comfortable and more connected with the car.'
When asked what areas he could improve, Colapinto pointed out his Alpine experience was still just a few grands prix. The simple answer was: 'All of them.'
'We've been learning many things every time I jumped in the car and we've been focusing on our weaknesses,' he continued. 'The important thing is that we capitalise on where we have to work on. That's going to bring the performance.'
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Building a stronger base with clean Friday practice sessions is one example. Colapinto described it as 'building momentum for the rest of the weekend.' Without a solid Friday, a driver starts on the back foot.
When all was said and done in Austria, Colapinto was asked about being at the end of the five-race evaluation and where he feels he now stands.
'(We're) focusing on improving the car. We looked a bit weak today, and we need to take some steps forward. The car has been a bit tricky to drive — not very consistent,' he said on Sunday. 'It's quick, but the reactivity didn't give me that confidence that I needed to push in the high speed here. It was a tough weekend. Overall, we made some steps forward, but something didn't click.'
Colapinto is now holding onto his seat on a race-by-race basis. He said after the Austrian GP that Briatore 'has been very supportive and he trusts in the decision he made.' The goal for Alpine is to determine the strongest driver lineup for next season, when significant changes to car design regulations could shake up the sport's hierarchy.
When asked whether he has held reassurance talks with Briatore, Colapinto said, 'Yes, every day.'
Colapinto will benefit from further experience, as with any young F1 driver, but assessments are ongoing. Before the swap with Doohan, Colapinto only had simulator sessions and a few private test outings to prepare, similar to Alpine's other reserve driver, Paul Aron.
By comparison, Doohan had months of preparation — sitting on the sidelines last season to do a full testing program and even hopping into a race seat in Abu Dhabi last year when he replaced Esteban Ocon, before he got the usual winter preseason prep program. When comparing the pace gaps between Gasly and his teammates since last season's closer, the data suggests that Colapinto might already be an upgrade on Doohan.
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Gasly vs Doohan (seven races):
Qualifying head-to-head: 5-1
Average gap: +0.362 seconds
Gasly vs Colapinto (five races):
Qualifying head-to-head: 4-1
Average gap: +0.237 seconds
Alpine also needs to deliver a consistently competitive car to all its drivers. According to Gasly, no upgrades will arrive before the summer break. Alpine has already shifted its focus to its 2026 car, which will also feature the switch to Mercedes power units and gearboxes.
But Aron represents a wildcard scenario. After Doohan replaced Ocon for the Abu Dhabi GP, Alpine used Aron for its post-season young driver test, impressing the team in the process.
This week, it was announced that the 21-year-old Estonian would make his free practice debut with Sauber at the British GP on Friday, before another FP1 session in Hungary. After that, Aron will fulfil Alpine's remaining three rookie sessions this season (after Doohan used one while still classed as a practice rookie in Australia).
Such a lengthy program allows Alpine to assess what Aron can do with the current season's cars. For the team's crucial 2026 seat, all options remain open.