Franco Colapinto’s key sponsor accidentally dropped a hint about when he expects to be driving for Alpine this season

One of the biggest talking points heading into the 2025 Formula 1 season was what was happening behind the scenes at Alpine.

After the arrival of Flavio Briatore last year, many expected big changes to take place at Alpine given his previous behaviour while in charge of Renault and Benetton.

Briatore oversaw the likes of Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert losing their seats early in their careers but did uncover Fernando Alonso and helped the Spaniard win the only two drivers’ championships of his career.

Oliver Oakes has been brought in as team principal of Alpine since Briatore’s arrival, and Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan are his current drivers.

Briatore has positively surprised Gasly, but Doohan has been under pressure since his impromptu debut at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Alpine signed a host of reserve drivers over the winter break, and the most high-profile of those was Franco Colapinto.

After impressing at Williams last season, he was loaned to Alpine with the idea that he would race in Formula 1 again this year.

While Doohan is expected to have until the summer break to prove himself at the Anglo-French team, that’s not what one of Colapinto’s key backers has heard.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine reserve driver Franco Colapinto? Everything to know

Franco Colapinto’s sponsor expects him to drive for Alpine at Imola

Horacio Marin, the president of YPF, an Argentine power company, was speaking about fuel prices in the country, via A24, before talking about Colapinto’s future.

He simply stated, ‘I really don’t know,’ when asked about when he could make his F1 debut.

However, as the interview was coming to an end, Marin can be clearly heard saying, ‘In Imola’, to the interviewer, suggesting the young driver isn’t far away from making a comeback.

Now, that might not necessarily mean Colapinto will be replacing Doohan, and it could instead imply that he’s simply testing at the track.

But Colapinto is too experienced to take part in an FP1 session, meaning either he’s in or out in just a few week’s time.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Why Jack Doohan has had an incredibly tough Formula 1 debut season at Alpine

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as the race at Imola is officially known takes place two weeks after the upcoming event in Miami.

It was previously suggested that Doohan would be dropped before the race in Miami, but he’s already overcome that hurdle.

There are also suggestions that Colapinto’s camp is becoming harder to believe within the paddock.

This comes after Colapinto was linked with Racing Bulls earlier this year when Liam Lawson was dropped by Red Bull after two races.

It was always unlikely that a move like this was going to take place, particularly as the Argentine had already been ruled out by Red Bull as an option last year when Sergio Perez’s seat was under threat.

However, all of this noise has made Doohan’s job increasingly difficult.

He’s not helped himself at times, crashing in Australia and Japan, although Oakes has been frustrated by the abuse Doohan has received this year.

Alpine have not been unequivocal in their backing of Doohan this year, despite persistent rumours about Colapinto, and that’s likely to come up as a topic of conversation once again in Miami.