Karun Chandhok shares the worrying ‘information’ he’s now heard about Franco Colapinto’s private Alpine testing

Alpine have spent the last few months preparing Franco Colapinto for a potential return to the Formula 1 grid.

After taking part in nine races for Williams, Franco Colapinto was signed by Alpine over the winter break to take up the role of reserve driver.

It highlighted just how much pressure was already on Jack Doohan who had only taken part in one Grand Prix at this stage of his F1 career.

The problem for Doohan is that neither Oliver Oakes nor Flavio Briatore were in charge when the decision to hand his Esteban Ocon’s race seat for 2025 was made.

Oakes defended Doohan publicly, although could never guarantee his long-term future.

That came to a head at the Miami Grand Prix when Doohan was seen looking upset in the paddock after a first-lap clash with Liam Lawson ended his race.

It led to Alpine announcing that Colapinto was stepping into Doohan’s seat for the next five races, starting with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Colapinto has already been testing at Zandvoort following the news, but journalist Craig Slater and pundit Karun Chandhok have heard something quite worrying about his previous testing outings.

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Karun Chandhok recalls Franco Colapinto crashes during private Alpine testing

Chandhok and Slater were discussing the change in the Alpine garage on The F1 Show.

The Argentine had several shunts last season, and Williams were particularly annoyed about Colapinto’s crash in Las Vegas during qualifying.

Red Bull were put off signing Colapinto due to his crash damage bill, and recalling his preparations behind the scenes this year, Slater said, “As Karun says his one opportunity I think, is to take this on the chin, show his determination behind the scenes at Alpine and maybe hope that the Colapinto begins to crash again as I believe Karun, he has a couple of times.

“I mean, I don’t know how serious they were, but even in these four outings he’s had, testing the 2023 car, there have been incidents there, one in Monza I think.”

Chandhok replied, “Yeah that’s right. The information I was given to understand that they tested at Qatar and Monza and I think he had a shunt or he had an off in those as well.

“Look, I think Colapinto is a good driver, but we only saw a small snapshot of it, and really, it’s it’s hard to judge in that small window.”

READ MORE: Who is Alpine 2025 F1 driver Franco Colapinto? Everything you need to know

How Franco Colapinto fared against Paul Aron during Alpine’s private tests

It’s been clear for some time that Briatore has been unconvinced by Doohan in Alpine’s second car alongside Pierre Gasly.

Although Colapinto has always been the obvious option if the Australian was going to be dropped, fellow reserve driver Paul Aron is highly rated by Alpine.

A report from the Argentine outlet Infobae suggests that in the three pre-season tests that Colapinto and Aron both completed, the South American came out on top.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise given his previous experience racing in Formula 1.

However, Aron shouldn’t be underestimated having had a very strong junior career.

If he can generate a similar level of sponsorship backing as Colapinto, then there’s no reason why he might not be given a car in the car if the 21-year-old fails to impress.