Franco Colapinto endures difficult Alpine debut after Doohan demotion

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons. Franco Colapinto earned a full-time F1 seat at Alpine following an impressive late-2024 stint with Williams.

Franco Colapinto achieved promotion to a full-time race seat at Alpine starting from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola after replacing Australian rookie Jack Doohan, who had failed to score points across his six outings this season. Alpine have promoted Colapinto to help the French outfit optimise performance in the ongoing close battle for fifth place in the Constructors’ championship - currently sat in ninth.

Alpine signed 2024 late-season star Colapinto in January from Williams after a flurry of paddock gossip about the Argentine’s F1 future. The rookie scored five points across his spell of nine races last season - finishing a career best ninth on his second start, in Azerbaijan, where he fended off seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Although showing optimistic displays, the 22-year-old failed to finish three of his last four outings and suffered a crash in all four – most notably during Williams’ stressful weekend in the thunderous conditions at Brazil.

Despite his faults, Colapinto was a hot product for midfield teams over the winter ahead of the 2025 season. Alpine, under leadership from Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore, was keen to sign the Argentine as reserve driver for the prospective fanbase, performance and economical gain he could bring.

The Enstone-based team’s best finish in the Constructors’ championship was fourth in 2022 but slipped to sixth in 2024, which was secured after a miraculous double podium in Brazil with only three rounds to go.

With the new regulation overhaul inbound, Alpine crucially need to have their assets in order and achieve an applaudable finish to 2025 ready for the start of 2026.

Jack Doohan, son of five-time MotoGP World Champion Mick Doohan, made his debut for Alpine in the last race of 2024 but his seat was already fragile before pre-season testing after Colapinto’s arrival. Doohan managed a best finish of 13^th in China, struggled to keep up with teammate Pierre Gasly and crashed in Miami and Australia - the latter being self-inflicted.

Doohan was dropped from a race seat following the resignation of team principal Oliver Oakes; Briatore assumed control of the team and authorised the switch. However, Colapinto’s Alpine debut at Imola was not smooth sailing.

Following the red flag for Yuki Tsunoda’s crash in qualifying, Alpine mistakenly released Colapinto into the pit lane before deemed legal by the stewards – leading to a one-place grid drop for the race.

It went from bad to worse as the debutant crashed into the barriers after pushing too hard in the opening chicane on his final flying lap in Q1. The damage sustained prevented him from competing in Q2 and beyond.

Colapinto started 16^th and finished in the same position after a lacklustre Grand Prix. Teammate Gasly reeled Colapinto in and overtook him, with fresher tyres, on his recovery charge to 13^th after contact with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The pressure is on for the young Argentine, but Colapinto is an exciting prospect of the sport that Alpine will hope to exploit amidst their quest to master the midfield.