Franco Colapinto is now unlikely to be on the Formula 1 grid for next season despite some impressive performances at Williams.
The Argentine had a strong debut weekend at the Italian Grand Prix where he drove to 12th place while looking at home in the midfield after an error in qualifying.
He has since suffered a couple of difficult weekends at Williams who are already struggling for spare parts as one of the smaller teams on the grid.
Colapinto crashed twice over the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend during his first experience of driving a Formula 1 car in the rain.
He also crashed in qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Colapinto suffered a significant 50G impact on the street circuit while there were rumours about him joining Alpine or Red Bull.
Nate Saunders explained on the Unlapped podcast that Alpine had some concerns about the Argentine, which prevented him from joining the grid full-time in 2025.
Alpine had fears that people were being ‘suckered into this hype train’ around Franco Colapinto
Alpine is adjusting its driver line-up heading into 2025. Pierre Gasly is now being partnered by rookie Jack Doohan, who is being promoted from his reserve driver role. The Australian is replacing Esteban Ocon, who is moving to Haas.
There has already been some uncertainty over Doohan with rumours of performance clauses in his contract which is normal for a lot of rookies and more experienced drivers.
Colapinto has shown good speed but a tendency to crash, although he was an innocent party in an incident on the first turn last time out at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Saunders explained that someone within the Alpine team had some concerns over Colapinto and if people were putting too many expectations on him too soon.
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He said: “I think you could maybe have chalked Brazil down to the rain. But then you look at Vegas, it was such a rookie error and such an expensive crash.
“Probably the worst time that Franco Colapinto could have done that,I think that there were already some reservations. I think that I heard somebody at Alpine say, ‘One of the fears people had was that, Are we just being suckered into this hype train about this young driver?’
“Then he crashes twice, and I think suddenly it just it sends a spark. It flicks a switch in people’s heads of like, Let’s step back a little bit here. This guy’s had eight races in Formula 1. We’ve seen some very good performances. We’ve seen some pretty shaky rookie performances as well. I think it’s cooled the hype train a little bit on him.”
Franco Colapinto may be an option for Cadillac in 2026
In 2026, the Formula 1 grid will have 11 teams and 22 cars, as Cadillac will join the grid after their bid was finally accepted.
Colapinto may be an option for the American team, which will be looking to hit the ground running as Formula 1 introduces its new regulations.
The Williams driver has shown good speed, and a year on the sidelines as the team’s reserve driver may be what he needs to learn more.
Cadillac may like an American driver, which would attract sponsors to the team, particularly with three races in the United States.
Colapinto may be a candidate to be part of the line-up and he has one final chance at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to prove what he can do in a Formula 1 race.
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