Franco Colapinto has been an F1 2025 \u201cdisappointment\u201d in the opinion of former F1 driver Christian Danner.<\/p>\n
To Danner\u2019s mind, Colapinto \u201cdoesn\u2019t deliver anything tangible on track\u201d. The former Zakspeed, Osella, Arrows and Rial driver also took aim at Colapinto\u2019s fans, who he finds \u201creally extreme\u201d.<\/p>\n
Franco Colapinto: The right driver for Alpine?<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n
Colapinto<\/a> turned heads when he burst onto the Formula 1 scene in 2024. After a respectable junior career, the Argentine was called-up by Williams as a mid-season replacement for Logan Sargeant.<\/p>\n He scored five points, and for a time was even linked with joining the Red Bull fold.<\/p>\n No space opened up for Colapinto on the initial F1 2025 grid, but having joined Alpine as a reserve, he was soon linked with Jack Doohan\u2019s seat. It was the seat he took from the Australian by Round 7 at Imola.<\/p>\n But, like Doohan, Colapinto has failed to score a point in Alpine colours thus far. Rookie mistakes have also continued to crop up, including a heavy qualifying shunt at Imola, and crashing out during a recent Pirelli tyre test.<\/p>\n As Danner took stock of F1 2025 part one, he pointed to Lewis Hamilton as the \u201cmost negative\u201d surprise so far, as he continues to struggle at Ferrari. Red Bull\u2019s Yuki Tsunoda also got a mention.<\/p>\n At that point, Danner turned his focus to Alpine\u2019s 22-year-old Argentine.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother disappointment for me is Franco Colapinto,\u201d he told ran.de.<\/p>\n \u201cHe simply doesn\u2019t deliver anything tangible on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to a perceived lack of performance, Danner feels Colapinto\u2019s fans create a \u201cvery unpleasant\u201d environment, something which he understands Colapinto is not at fault for.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd at the same time, he has an extreme fan base from Argentina that is sensitive to criticism,\u201d Danner continued.<\/p>\n \u201cI speak from personal experience. Any criticism brings with it a sh*tstorm. That\u2019s very, very unpleasant. It\u2019s not his fault, but the fans are really extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly head-to-head in F1 2025<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n