Franco Colapinto is without a seat for the 2025 Formula 1 season as it stands. His Williams team have signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari to partner Alex Albon.
Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant after the Dutch GP, giving him nine races to audition for a 2025 seat. He started extremely well, scoring four points in just his second-ever race in Azerbaijan.
He added another in the United States, but lost his way before the end of the season. Four crashes in three weekends between Brazil and Qatar left Williams facing a cost-cap penalty at the end of an incident-riddled year.
Red Bull were one of the teams who took an interest in Colapinto after his dazzling early displays. They would likely have slotted him into RB alongside either Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson – whichever driver didn’t replace Sergio Perez.
But Red Bull are no longer keen on Colapinto, whose last five results of the season read DNF, 14th, 18th, DNF, DNF. Ostensibly, Christian Horner was the only team boss who had vacancies available.
James Vowles says Colapinto will be a reserve driver in 2025 if Williams can’t arrange a deal with another team. But he continues to be linked with one of their rivals.
Flavio Briatore could further damage reputation by dropping Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto
According to journalist Joe Saward, writing in his Green Notebook, the ‘ultimate plan’ at Alpine is to ‘ditch’ Jack Doohan in favour of Colapinto. This was the ‘talk’ in the Abu Dhabi GP paddock.
Doohan made an early debut at Yas Marina after a mutual separation with Haas-bound Esteban Ocon. He was slowest in qualifying but finished 15th.
Saward says ‘it does not matter’ whether Doohan is faster than Colapinto. Alpine’s bigger concern is ‘all the sponsorship money’ they could net from the Argentine.
‘A lot of F1 people’ think that Flavio Briatore, an advisor to Renault CEO Luca de Meo and the de facto team boss, is a ‘truly horrid person’. And he could damage his reputation further by ripping up the team’s 2025 agreement with Doohan.
Jack Doohan will be reassured by one thing Alpine did in Abu Dhabi test
Briatore is keen to make Alpine far more profitable. That’s part of the reason why Alpine will use Mercedes engines from 2026, rather than building their own at Viry.
Colapinto brings a £25m sponsorship package that could push the team further into the black. He shouldn’t be labelled a pay driver, though, because his talent is obvious, even if he’s still raw.
Doohan completed a full pit-stop routine every time he came in during Tuesday’s Abu Dhabi test. This was partly to prepare him for racing full-time in 2025.
That’s somewhat reassuring for the Australian, but it’s clear that there are doubts at Enstone. One report claimed Doohan only has a five-race contract, putting him under immediate pressure to deliver.
Leave feedback about this