Franco Colapinto: 2026 Alpine seat likely amidst strong form

Colapinto quietly putting together impressive weekends

A series of mistakes and spins in his first weekends at Alpine were detrimental to Colapinto’s market value.

The consensus on Jack Doohan’s replacement, both from casual observers and media outlets, was that the Australian unfairly lost his seat. Because of this, a high bar was set for Colapinto to justify being given the seat mid-season.

The circumstances of his predecessor’s departure, and indeed public perception, are not in the Argentine’s control. Unfortunately, these things created a highly sceptical narrative in his first Grand Prix in the A525.

A bigger problem for Colapinto has been Alpine’s fundamental lack of pace. Outside of a few anomalies, the French team lack the speed to score points.

This meant, at least initially, the only time the 22-year-old would generate headlines would be after big mistakes. Thankfully for the #43 driver, the situation has become healthier since the summer break.

Colapinto has now out-qualified Gasly in three of the last four qualifying sessions, an encouraging statistic for someone with such little experience – especially given Colapinto did not complete any pre-season testing.

Beyond qualifying, the Argentine is regularly a match for his teammate on race day. Even in his first races with Alpine, the youngster was consistently setting comparable times to his more experienced teammate.

This trend has solidified since the summer break, with Colapinto optimising his A525 and matching or even exceeding Gasly’s output.

Another year with Alpine expected

Thanks to his strong run, the 22-yar-old is on track to continue with Alpine in 2026. Whilst alternatives are on Flavio Briatore’s shortlist – such as Paul Aron – Colapinto’s future was always in his hands.

It must be emphasised (as previous articles on LWOS have covered) that Alpine went through great effort to sign the Argentine from Williams.

A hefty financial sum was required to break Colapinto from his Williams deal, and Colapinto’s manager confirmed in January that his contract with Alpine was for several years.

In this context, it would have taken a dramatic series of events for Briatore to change his mind. Of course, Briatore’s comments earlier in the season offered little reassurance to the team’s latest signing.

The 74-year-old often stated that improvements were essential to safeguard Colapinto’s position at Enstone. Partly because of this, there has been ongoing speculation about what the future holds.

However, there are no indications that Alpine are looking elsewhere. In a move that will help create a much-needed sense of stability, Colapinto is set to drive for the team in 2026.

Briatore has praised the #43 car’s results in the second half of the season, showing satisfaction with his progression. A combination of competitive pace and a reduction in errors have been transformative in tipping the scale in his favour.