Franco Colapinto’s Formula 1 future was in the balance heading into the summer break. But now, the only mid-season arrival of 2025 has stabilised.
Colapinto’s three-race run before the break was miserable. He crashed at Silverstone and then took no part in the race before finishing P19 in both the Sprint and Grand Prix at Spa.
After Colapinto only managed 18th in Hungary, Alpine were heavily linked with Valtteri Bottas. In the end, the Mercedes reserve driver committed to 2026 entrants Cadillac instead.
With that immediate threat receding, Colapinto’s form has improved. He’s still chasing his first points as an Alpine driver, but he has outpaced the highly-rated Pierre Gasly in three of the last four qualifying sessions.
Franco Colapinto will stay at Alpine for the rest of the 2025 season at least
When Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan just six races into the season, Flavio Briatore gave him a race-by-race deal. They have stuck with that arrangement since, refusing to rule out another change.
But at last, a team representative has ‘confirmed’ to The Athletic that Colapinto is ‘expected’ to keep the seat until the end of 2025. It’s a ‘performance-based situation’, so a major regression could force a rethink, but he appears to be headed in the opposite direction.
Alpine still haven’t made a decision about their 2026 line-up. Gasly is under contract, with Colapinto and reserve driver Paul Aron the main contenders for the second seat.
Aron has made two FP1 appearances for Sauber this season as part of a loan arrangement. Colapinto knows this could be his last chance in F1 after a short stint at Williams as Logan Sargeant’s replacement last year.
Franco Colapinto vs Paul Aron – who had the better Formula 2 career?
Given that Formula 2 is designed to be a spec series, a comparison between the two drivers could be of some use to Alpine. They competed in a similar number of races and both scored just one win.
Aron has the edge for poles, podiums and points per race. He finished third in last year’s standings behind Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, arguably the two most impressive rookies on the 2025 F1 grid.
There are, of course, a variety of factors at play, and F2 performances aren’t always a reliable predictor.
CATEGORYCOLARORaces2230Wins11Poles04Podiums38Points96163Franco Colapinto vs Paul Aron in Formula 2
Some paddock insiders are shocked that Doohan hasn’t returned after Colapinto’s underwhelming start, but Alpine appear to have moved on. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they parted ways with the Australian at the end of the year.
Colapinto says it can be ‘very hard’ to work with Briatore given his ruthless management style. He believes the Italian can take Alpine back to the top, but it remains to be seen whether he’s part of that process.