The 2025 Formula 1 season will see Franco Colapinto begin the campaign wearing Alpine colours.
When he steps foot at the Australian Grand Prix, there’s a good chance Franco Colapinto won’t be donning his race overalls, but it may be a case of when rather than if he’ll once again take part in F1 race weekends.
Colapinto stepped up into a race seat at Williams for the final nine Grand Prix of the season after team principal James Vowles dropped Logan Sargeant.
The young Argentine performed admirably and outperformed many people’s expectations, but Williams didn’t have a place available for Colapinto in 2025 having already confirmed Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz as their drivers.
This meant Colapinto was suddenly one of the most exciting drivers on the market and a few seats were still available for this year.
Red Bull had confirmed all but one of their spots on the grid, with Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson fighting for their futures.
Colapinto was quickly linked with Red Bull and had several races left in 2024 to prove that he deserved a spot on the grid with one of their two teams.
Although Red Bull confirmed Perez’s exit after the campaign ended, the 21-year-old was no longer in the frame to replace him.
Colapinto’s manager, Maria Catarineu, explained in an interview with Infobae why the deal with Red Bull eventually fell through.
Red Bull preferred to promote Liam Lawson than sign Franco Colapinto to replace Sergio Perez
Talking about the interest from team principal Christian Horner in Colapinto, Catarineu said. “Clearly Christian showed an interest in Franco, which could be on the Red Bull side as Max’s teammate or on the Red Bull second team side; and like others, because there have been more.
“He wanted to know what the situation is with Williams and have a chat with James.
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“The thing is that then the Red Bull route, for different things, couldn’t happen.
“First of all, because Red Bull has a board, they have a very strong academy, with drivers who were there waiting and well, that didn’t work out.
“But yes, Christian’s visit was really a way for Williams to understand what Franco’s situation was for the future.”
When could Franco Colapinto return to the Formula 1 grid with Alpine?
After crashes in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas, Colapinto’s burgeoning reputation took a hit and that likely played a part in Red Bull changing their mind.
Although the idea of promoting from their academy makes a lot of sense, ultimately Horner and chief advisor Helmut Marko want the best drivers available in their cars.
They could have promoted from within in 2020 but instead moved for Perez after tricky stints alongside Max Verstappen for Albon and Pierre Gasly.
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Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore was very impressed with Colapinto as soon as he saw him and it makes sense that the French team made their move for the Argentine.
Jack Doohan’s contract runs for just a few races and if he doesn’t reach the required levels during his first full Formula 1 season, it’s easy to see him being moved on to make space for Colapinto.
It would be a bitter blow for the Australian after being so patient for his F1 chance, but Colapinto brings sponsorships, a huge fanbase and raw speed that may be hard for Briatore and Alpine to ignore.
