Franco Colapinto

Franco Colapinto retains his Alpine F1 seat for a second season in 2026, but his long-term future remains up in the air. 

In January 2025, Alpine announced that they had completed the signing of Colapinto as their reserve driver for the upcoming campaign. Rumours immediately began that he would replace Jack Doohan in their race seat.

After only six grands prix of his rookie year, having scored zero points, Doohan was demoted into a reserve role and Colapinto was put into Alpine's car.

Colapinto fared little better, also failing to score points during the remainder of the season, leading to speculation that he too could be replaced. 

But improved performances in the second half of the campaign helped Colapinto secure his place at Alpine for another season.

If Alpine can improve its fortunes and produce a more competitive car for 2026, Colapinto will need to utilise it to keep the hard-to-please Flavio Briatore satisfied. 

Franco Colapinto broke through at Williams

While Colapinto’s junior career isn’t stellar, he was handed the opportunity to race in F1 once Williams made the decision to drop Logan Sargeant in the middle of the 2024 season. Colapinto was drafted in from the Italian Grand Prix onwards.

Almost immediately, Colapinto adapted to life in F1 well, getting on level terms with his highly rated teammate Alex Albon. Colapinto scored points in his second race as an F1 driver, finishing eighth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

He followed it up with another top 10 result at the United States Grand Prix. His season tailed off with a number of incidents and, as a result, he was forced to run older parts amid Williams’ shortage issues. Colapinto’s rocky end to the season meant interest shown by Red Bull and Alpine dwindled.

Alpine renewed that interest in the New Year by signing him as their reserve and test driver, and he swiftly was thrown into their race seat.