Franco Colapinto has been at the center of rumors since he got into a Formula 1 car. He did so for the first time by getting behind the wheel of a Williams car in free practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 2024.
Even then, the Argentine was on the list to take the seat of Logan Sargeant, although his confirmation did not come until September, with his debut in Monza, for the 9 remaining races of the year. At that time, Franco Colapinto had been making waves in Formula 2, with three podiums and one victory in the silver category and the prelude to Formula 1.
Flavio Briatore believes that Colapinto can do better than Doohan at Alpine
His adaptation, pace and learning were so good in those last three months that James Wolves, the boss of Williams, was quick to call the teams that had any empty seats like Racing Bulls or Sauber (even Red Bull!) to place Colapinto as a regular driver. The problem is that at that time Williams had already signed Carlos Sainz, who had to look for a seat for 2025 due to the Hamilton and Ferrari bombshell.
The only door that opened for him was to be a test and reserve driver for Alpine, the same role he had at Williams, but with the serious possibility of being promoted to a full-time driver.
This was because Flavio Briatore did not want to lose the Argentine for the world and, although Jack Doohan, a driver from the Alpine Academy, had already been promoted, Briatore was sure that Colapinto could do better than the Australian. Now, and after just two races of this 2025 season, the complicated – but not impossible – door of Red Bull has opened for Franco, at least that of Racing Bulls.
Red Bull tried to make a carambola with Colapinto between Racing Bulls, Alpine and Williams
Because with Liam Lawson’s poor performance, voices in the paddock began to whisper that Red Bull might have asked Alpine to loan Franco Colapinto for this season so that he could drive the Racing Bulls alongside Isaak Hadjar, since it was already an open secret that Yuki Tsunoda would be getting into the second car of the Milton Keynes team as Verstappen’s teammate, something that was confirmed this Thursday morning.
What happened was that the plan to be carried out was somewhat more complex, because although Alpine has Franco Colapinto to its credit at the moment, he is only on loan from the Williams team for the following seasons, who have his rights for another five seasons. Or what is the same thing; Red Bull would have to negotiate the transfer of Colapinto to Alpine, which in turn has the transfer from Williams.
Finally, the ’43’ will continue to be part of Alpine this season, but with a nuance. The chances of seeing the Argentinean among the 19 best drivers in the world are not utopian, as he still plans to replace Australian Jack Doohan in Alpine, who has been having some discreet results, and he only has to prove that he is at the level of Gasly or, at least, not lose his rhythm.
Alpine will decide before the European tour if Colapinto will take Doohan’s seat
For their part, the information available at ESPN, the channel that broadcasts Formula 1 in Latin America, also maintains that Colapinto is still likely to replace Jack Doohan at Alpine “before the European stage of the season,” as journalist Nate Saunders wrote.
There are still a couple of months and four more races to go before those deadlines are met: Japan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami. That is how long the Enstone team has to finally decide whether to continue with Doohan for a while longer or if the time has come to count on Franco.
The anxiety of the man from Pilar is growing, not only because he likes to compete and race, but also because Alpine is the only team (along with Sauber) that has not scored any points so far, and with him, they think, the situation could be reversed. “Better weekends are coming, let’s keep working,” he posted after the Shanghai race. Gasly already pointed this out in the last few hours. That seat is not that far away…