Franco Colapinto delivered some stunning performances and made the most of his short opportunity with Williams in 2024, but was unable to secure an F1 seat for the future.
Teams such as Red Bull flirted with the idea of signing him but were put off by the potential eight-figure fee demanded by Williams.
With both seats filled at the Grove-based outfit for the next two years, it leaves Colapinto sat in a reserve role unless he can find someone willing to loan or buy him out elsewhere on the grid.
Juan Pablo Montoya believes Colapinto could replace Alex Albon in 2025 but the Thai driver would have to endure quite the demise for that to happen.
Waiting until 2027 feels like a disservice to the talents he displayed but it’s the reality of the situation for a man who nobody expected to rise to stardom so quickly.
A Formula 2 return is still on the cards, but he’s unlikely to want to return there after experiencing the thrill of Formula 1.
Williams’ Franco Colapinto negotiations with Alpine have ‘broken down’ for 2025
Red Bull spotted red flags in 2025 negotiations with Colapinto and opted to hire talent from within their young driver stable at the senior team and the junior Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team.
Only time will tell if that was the right move but it was a significant hit to the Argentine’s hopes of being on the grid in the next two seasons.
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Then there were rumours that he might be able to find an opening at Alpine, despite their young driver Jack Doohan having signed a contract for next year.
He was given the opportunity to drive at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and didn’t achieve much of note.
Although it has placed some pressure on the Aussie, Argentine outlet Cronica now reports that any negotiations between Alpine and Williams for Colapinto to get a drive in 2025 have ‘broken down’.
Was Franco Colapinto a better option than Jack Doohan for an Alpine F1 drive?
There’s little to assess the two drivers on apart from their Formula 2 campaigns, neither of which set the world on fire.
Colapinto did score five points this year and finished 19th out of 24 competitors in the Drivers’ Championship, while Doohan was 24th courtesy of completing only one race.
The Aussie finished third during his second season in F2, while Colapinto’s best finish was ninth – managed this year despite missing the last third of the season.
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Doohans’ best finish in Formula 3 (2nd) was slightly higher than Colapinto’s (4th) too suggesting that the Aussie has a little more pedigree.
It’s about Alpine giving him a fair chance after patiently waiting for an opportunity to fairly prove himself. Who knows, with a nine-race run like Colapinto he might just prove to be even better.
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