Photo: Race Pictures

Colapinto stays longer with Alpine: these statistics show why that's justified

14:25, 31 Oct

Updated: 15:45, 31 Oct

byTim Kraaij

Alpine is rightly sticking with Franco Colapinto for 2026. How did an old-fashioned and radical decision work out well for the French team?

At Zandvoort, Jack Doohan sat smiling at the table. Prior to the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, Alpine had announced a deal with the Australian, who was set to race for the team in 2025 — but that stint didn’t last long.

That development was closely tied to a certain Argentine who came out of nowhere to impress in F1 in the second half of 2024. Colapinto, who had been fairly inconspicuous in Formula 2 up to that point, performed excellently as Logan Sargeant’s replacement at Williams. So well, in fact, that other teams also had a look at the Argentine driver.

Due to multiple crashes, no other team signed Colapinto, and at Williams the seats had already been filled with the arrival of Carlos Sainz. So Colapinto had to wait another year on the sidelines, but not at Williams.

Doohan benched early on

Alpine opened its wallet to buy out Colapinto’s contract at Williams. Colapinto, who also brings in significant money with his Argentine sponsors, made the switch to the Enstone-based team as a reserve driver. According to Williams team principal James Vowles, he was granted the move because there was a better chance of getting a full-time F1 seat at Alpine.

Those words and the multi year deal with the reserve driver turned up the pressure on Doohan, who buckled under it. The Australian rookie made several mistakes in his first few races for the team and, ironically, after his best weekend in Miami he was sidelined for Colapinto.

Doohan couldn’t match Gasly

Gasly	2025	Doohan
5	Qualifying head-to-head	1
-0.362s	Average qualifying gap	+0.362s
3	Race head-to-head	0
7	Points	0

In hindsight, Alpine made the call to sign Doohan to the F1 seat far too early. It wasn’t as if the Australian rookie had other options on the table and Alpine had to act. The French team would have been better off waiting with that announcement. In that case, Colapinto might have got the chance right at the start of the season. A chance that everyone, probably including Doohan, had long known was likely to come anyway.

Alpine now seems to have learned from that lesson. While ‘lead driver’ Pierre Gasly signed a new deal through 2028, Colapinto is still awaiting the official confirmation of his contract extension. GPblog was already able to report earlier that the decision seems imminent.

And it was fair game. Although replacing Doohan after six Grands Prix was radical, and to be honest, he perhaps never truly received full confidence, Colapinto has since proven himself the better option for the team.

Gasly only narrowly wins teammate duel against Colapinto

Gasly	2025	Colapinto
9	Qualifying head-to-head	4
-0.145s	Average qualifying gap	+0.145s
7	Race head-to-head	6
13	Points	0

Gasly stands out as the better of the two, in qualifying and race duels, but Colapinto makes the Frenchman work hard to stay ahead. The Argentine has already finished ahead of his teammate four times in qualifying and as many as six times in the race. The only downside for Colapinto is that those results haven’t yielded points yet, leaving him still at the bottom of the world championship standings.

Even so, the underlying data is very promising. Just like in his short spell at Williams, Colapinto has shown he is indeed capable of producing fast laps in qualifying and fighting his way to solid results on Sundays. In a better car, that would have already translated into far more points than with Alpine's A525.

Colapinto had already impressed at Williams

Albon	2024	Colapinto
6	Qualifying head-to-head	2
-0.024s	Average qualifying gap	+0.024s
2	Race head-to-head	1
8	Points	5

Alpine would therefore be right to hand a new contract to Colapinto. If the French team sees Gasly as the benchmark, then the Argentine driver can’t do much better than what he’s doing now. He’s very close to the Frenchman and even manages to beat him at times.

As in 2024, there’s no rush for Alpine. No other team is going to pick up Colapinto, but on the other hand, there isn’t a better alternative presenting itself for Alpine either. Experienced drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, who did not have a full-time seat for 2025, have already signed with Cadillac, and there aren’t many other experienced options.

Franco Colapinto prepares for a second season with Alpine - Photo: RacePictures

There’s no guarantee that Paul Aron would do better than Colapinto. The same goes for the Formula 2 talents, none of whom stand out as a must-sign for any F1 team right now.

A driver may yet drop out at Red Bull. The fight at Racing Bulls seems to be between Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, and Arvid Lindblad. If Lawson or Tsunoda becomes available, they could potentially become candidates for a seat at Alpine. But would the team really gain much from any of those signings?

It therefore seems natural that Alpine sticks with Colapinto, hoping that a better car in 2026 will also translate into points. The Brazilian GP seems a logical moment for that announcement. In any case, Alpine wants to make the decision by November at the latest. So clarity will follow soon.

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