When Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams after the Dutch Grand Prix in 2024, he seemingly took the world by storm. After a solid debut in Monza, he closed out the season in impressive fashion, making him an attractive candidate for a number of teams heading into the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Despite Alpine having already announced Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly as their drivers for 2025, Flavio Briatore still decided to compensate Williams in exchange for Colapinto as a reserve driver. With the fee rumored to be in the region of 20 million euros, it appeared that the Argentinian driver would replace Doohan shortly into the new season.
That driver change was indeed made, but Colapinto’s performance has been underwhelming to say the least. Though there have been many calls for him to be replaced by Paul Aron or even Doohan, Briatore and Alpine are fully committed to the 22-year-old. The Alpine team principal has admitted to mounting too much pressure on Colapinto, alluding to mismanagement thus far.
Briatore is deterring his own Alpine vision
Just five months ago, Briatore openly stated that he hoped to compete for wins in 2026 and become a championship contender the following season. While those goals are quite ambitious, the switch from Renault to a Mercedes engine should give Alpine a better chance to get closer to that standing.
When it comes to their drivers, keeping Gasly for the long term is a great move and should pay off significantly. However, Briatore appears to be unwilling to part with Colapinto, whose pace has not been flattering by any means and who has performed rather poorly compared to Gasly at times.
While Colapinto is capable of producing good performances here and there, he is not a driver worth keeping when the goal is winning races on a regular basis. There is no clear reason why Alpine want to continue with Colapinto, especially with Aron patiently waiting for his chance. Odds are that the sponsorships Alpine receives through Colapinto add more value to his continuance.
If Briatore were to consider his own visions and give them greater value, Colapinto would be replaced in favor of Aron or another Formula 2 driver next year. Alex Dunne has been a candidate for a few teams, though it appears he will spend another season in Formula 2 for now. If no changes are made, the Alpine team boss is effectively going against his own goals.