Alpine’s second driver experiment of the season is coming to an end as Franco Colapinto has just two more guaranteed races left before his future is assessed.
The Argentine has until the end of the Austrian Grand Prix to prove that he’s worthy of a gig alongside Pierre Gasly at the French outfit, heading into the 2026 F1 regulations.
Colapinto has been loaned from Williams, but hasn’t been able to match the level of performance he delivered for the Grove-based team last year.
It’s a worrying sign for Alpine and begs the question – what do they do next? Could they put Doohan back in, or would they push to promote Paul Aron?
Fans think Alpine should’ve signed Sergio Perez for the role, given that he has managed 39 podiums and has some really strong midfield experience.
In a positive turn of events, Perez is against retiring from F1 completely and could be an option for them if they decide that none of their current options are good enough. From a marketing standpoint, it might be a great move.
READ MORE: What Franco Colapinto is now doing behind the scenes shows how desperate he is to retain his Alpine F1 seat
Alpine were wrong to drop Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto and qualifying deficit proves it
Alpine are fortunate to have a very experienced and dependable number one driver, with Gasly having scored all 11 of their points so far this season. It still hasn’t been enough to lift them from the bottom of the constructors’ championship.
It’s a lot of pressure and weight on his shoulders, but he has proven that he can handle it at the age of 29. He has also flexed his speed on a Saturday.
The gap between himself and Doohan in Q1 across the first six races was an average of 0.271 seconds. That’s not terrible for a complete rookie, though.
For Colapinto, the gap is a bit bigger. Sitting at 0.390 seconds, he has struggled to set his car up well and extract pace from it from the moment he arrived.
Alpine are considering Mick Schumacher ‘behind the scenes’ and he hasn’t driven a Formula 1 car for nearly three years. It shows how lost they are with their second driver situation currently.
READ MORE: Karun Chandhok saw Franco Colapinto do something ‘naughty’ at the Monaco Grand Prix
Who should Alpine sign next if they decide to replace Franco Colapinto?
If Doohan was replaced after just six races and showed more promise than Colapinto, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another driver change ahead of the British Grand Prix.
F1 fans think Flavio Briatore’s next project is Aron, and he isn’t competing in any series currently. He’s available to be thrown straight into a car.
The Estonian finished third in Formula 2 last year, winning one race with Hitech. He showed that he has the talent to race at the top level.
However, there are more experienced options available, such as the aforementioned Perez, or maybe a deal for Valtteri Bottas can be done too.
Their next wisest choice may be to seek experience. They can’t afford to coast, and pushing Gasly will only produce more performance for them in the long term.
