Franco Colapinto has joined Alpine as a test and reserve driver after the team reached an agreement with Williams, for whom he made his Formula 1 debut last year.
The 21-year-old impressed in his nine appearances for the team in place of Logan Sargeant in the second half of 2024.Alpine has already named Pierre Gasly and newcomer Jack Doohan as its race drivers for this year. It has also appointed Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa as reserve drivers, the latter announced earlier today.
Now it has also secured the services of Colapinto after agreeing terms with Williams. The driver thanked the team for giving him his debut in the sport.
“They made my dreams come true and I will always be grateful for that,” he said. “I’d like to thank the mechanics and all the team members who made a massive effort to put the car on track and give me the opportunity to score points. And to the fans, who have been so supportive, you have been there for us in the good times and bad; you are the best.”
Williams team principal James Vowles said Colapinto “clearly showed he is deserving of a place in Formula 1 and we always said we would support him to get one.
“Williams has one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid for 2025 and beyond in Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz [Jnr], so we believe this agreement with Alpine represents Franco’s best chance of securing a race seat in 2025 or 2026.
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“The Williams Racing Driver Academy exists to discover and develop the F1 stars of the future which is exactly what it has done in Franco’s case, and builds on our long tradition of giving talented young drivers their break at the top level of motorsport. We are proud to have returned Argentina to the F1 grid, want to thank Franco for everything he has brought to the team and look forward to future battles on track.”
Although Colapinto has joined the team in a reserve role, his arrival will prompt speculation he is being considered for a promotion to a race seat. Alpine moved Esteban Ocon aside one race before he was due to leave, in order to give Doohan his grand prix debut at last year’s season finale.
While Doohan is the first member of Alpine’s junior driver programme to race for the team, its executive advisor Flavio Briatore lavished praise on Colapinto when his move was announced today.
“Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now,” said Briatore. “It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula 1 grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver.
“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”
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wsrgo (@wsrgo)
9th January 2025, 17:37
Aron, Colapinto and Hirakawa…three reserves drivers.
Now watch as Alpine become Uralkali Hitech Racing and Doohan is replaced by Mazepin.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 18:08
No, but we’ll likely see JD replaced by FC before the end of the season due to the fact he’s likely a better driver and brings sponsorship (from companies rather than family just like every good and great driver in F1 does) if Jack fails to stay close to Gasly. While the team is owned by Renault, even as cheap as they are, it will never become a 2020 Haas type team. And Briatore, hate him or love him, would not be interested in running a hopeless back marker. Above all, with the budget cap and increased revenue, the days of teams needing to rely on the likes or Mazepin are over.
Since I doubt Alpine would be willing to pay the price to buy out FC fully from Williams, I’m guessing this is a likely scenario: Williams are charging little to nothing because they’re retaining first rights to his services once Alex’s or Carlos’ contract is up with this being what each team gets out of it:
-Alpine get a driver who will bring more sponsorship money to a team whose owners don’t want to spend their own money + a driver who will likely generate more points and therefore once again more $. Because so much can happen in 2-3 years, there’s every chance Williams ends up not having a seat for him by whenever whatever rights they have to him expire and Alpine is able to retain him or his sponsors are willing to pay the buy out price. Either way, they benefit.
-Williams get to fully evaluate Colapinto without buying him a seat or buying out Albon’s contract to make space for him without even knowing for sure FC is something truly special.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 18:18
like of Mazepin*
Jere (@jerejj)
9th January 2025, 18:28
El Pollo Loco Firstly, making definitive conclusions about Doohan’s chances for a long career in F1 is pointless.
He could just as well succeed as he could fail, not to mention he isn’t even the least experienced 2025 rookie, so if anyone has the biggest chance to struggle, Antonelli is the one, as his readiness to even compete in F1 yet is questionable.
If Doohan performs consistently & is only marginally slower than Gasly on average, if not even faster, he definitely won’t get sacked during or even after the season since he was given a chance for a reason in the first place as a driver whose career Alpine has invested in, meaning that he’s in the team’s long-term plans just like any other driver who gets a full-time chance after having been supported in the lower single-seaters rather than only to get sacked regardless of performance level.
Furthermore, Alpine indeed provided financial compensation for his Williams contract termination since he was only ever going to join as a free agent anyway to a full independent & manufacturer-owned rather than on loan.
Therefore, zero Williams affiliation left, just like with Bortoleto’s move, albeit without the financial compensation, & many other drivers over the years.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 18:17
BTW, the fact that this is a multi-year deals shows this is vastly different from naming F2 drivers who are part of your academy a reserve driver, which often is nothing more than a little token/CV bonus that means nothing in terms of a team’s intention to ever promote them (as we’ve seen countless times).
I really like Paul Aaron. Beyond being a great driver, he’s also a really good person. He happens to be Estonian. A country that’s doing a lot worthy of admiration and praise. So, I hope he gets a shot at some point too whether with Alpine or another team and see him raise Estonia’s profile at the same time.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
9th January 2025, 17:57
Doohan must be feeling pressure already the poor guy.
Let’s give him a chance behind the wheel at least.
Ideals (@ideals)
9th January 2025, 18:23
Unless he suddenly massively improved in all the time he wasn’t driving, he’s never going to set the world on fire. His promotion was rather baffling to say the least, but given it was Alpine it made some sense, because that team just keeps making those weird decisions over and over again.
They probably just needed to show the world that “yes, we can promote our junior drivers and our system isn’t a dead end” and that was their motivation to do this. Now the new leadership is stuck with him until they can replace him based on whatever performance clause he has. Is what it is.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th January 2025, 18:30
@ideals Giving him a chance was perfectly justified, given the investment made on his career & the costly mistake with Piastri.
Ideals (@ideals)
9th January 2025, 18:32
Sure, if you want a Sargeant or a Latifi type of talent for your team, it seems perfectly justified.
The thing with investing is that investments sometimes don’t pay off, that’s the gamble you take. Doohan’s junior career gives a decent indication of his level, I’d have cut my losses and it seems current Alpine management is inclined to agree.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th January 2025, 18:34
You’re just making definitive conclusions before he’s even had a chance to show whether he’s worthy of a long career in F1 or not.
People should stop being judgmental towards any particular rookie for the sake of being judgmental.
If they were never going to give a chance to any driver whose career they’ve invested in, they might as well just stop having a driver academy altogether.
Ideals (@ideals)
9th January 2025, 18:54
If we aren’t allowed to judge drivers based on the careers they’ve had, then what are we supposed to judge them on? Or should we just never judge anyone at any time, lest they might suddenly surprise us?
There are only twenty F1 seats, soon to be 22, and we should be very picky over who gets them.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
9th January 2025, 19:56
Have to agree with ideals here, from what we saw so far doohan didn’t set the track on fire, it’s reasonable to assume he might be a latifi\sargeant level driver, but I’m gonna give him 6 races, that should be plenty to see if he has some speed, like colapinto showed, or not.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
9th January 2025, 19:57
And we definitely have a known quantity in gasly to compare him to, a proven midfield driver.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 20:11
That and a team simply does not make this type of move if they’re trying show support and instill confidence in a young driver they believe in. You don’t conclude a multi-year deal like this if you don’t expect to be putting them in a race seat.
anon
9th January 2025, 20:22
@esploratore1 and yet both Colapinto and Bearman have been viewed positively for their performances by several posters, including yourself, despite the fact that they also entered Formula 1 with results in their junior careers that were also considered rather modest.
Colapinto also came into Formula 1 with a reputation for being a bit error prone, and he’s certainly cost Williams a lot in 2024 on that front – he only drove for nine races, but is estimated to have racked up the third highest bill for accident damage last year.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 20:47
That’s true, Anon. But Doohan looked woeful in his debut and Colapinto was electric despite Jack having a full F2 career and much more prep for his first race while FC had a sliver of an F2 season and one FP1 session before being thrown into the fire. So, yes, all of us are speculating on small sample sizes. But I know which sample looks more promising.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 18:38
That’s what it felt like. That and French pride after they failed to secure Sainz and no one else attractive was available. But they cannot blame past leadership for the move as it is exclusively the current leadership who signed him. However, considering Doohan had zero leverage (no sponsorship, no other teams showing interest, etc.) when the deal was made, it’d be naive to assume his contract includes any real protection such as an expensive buyout clause as why would they agree to that? And, after the humiliating Piastri fiasco and the ill advised and bizarrely long term deal they gave Ocon that played a large role into handcuffing them on their options, one can make the educated guess that Alpine is now being extremely cautious in the fine print and terms of their deals. It’s also worth noting Laurent Rossi is no longer there to make idiotic and unilateral driver decisions.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 18:40
That’s what it felt like. That and French pride after they failed to secure Sainz and no one else attractive was available. But they cannot blame past leadership for the move as it is exclusively the current leadership who signed him. However, considering Doohan had zero leverage (no sponsorship, no other teams showing interest, etc.) when the deal was made, it’d be naive to assume his contract includes any real protection such as an expensive buyout clause as why would they agree to that? And, after the humiliating Piastri fiasco and the ill advised and bizarrely long term deal they gave Ocon that played a large role into handcuffing them on their options, one can make the educated guess that Alpine is now being extremely cautious in the fine print and terms of their deals. It’s also worth noting Laurent Rossi is no longer there to make harebrained, unilateral driver decisions.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
9th January 2025, 17:59
I guess it was true that Flavio doesn’t trust Doohan’s ability
Jere (@jerejj)
9th January 2025, 18:32
Wrong as otherwise Alpine wouldn’t have decided to give him a chance in the first place since no one or nothing forced them to do so nor was he even their only remaining option after the Sainz rejection.
They could equally just as well offer someone like Bottas or Magnussen a drive had they wanted to, so your claim is totally contradictory & therefore has zero truthfulness.
People should know better than to make up stuff as third parties.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
9th January 2025, 18:50
Then why are they paying Williams for Colapinto? I don’t see any contradiction, Briatore doesn’t have a high opinion of any of those drivers and went for the natural option of Doohan even when he wasn’t fully convinced.
Mooa42
9th January 2025, 23:39
My memory says that the Doohan decision was largely decided before Flavio signed with Alpine, so I suspect he had very little say in the decision. His comments after Abu Dhabi certainly hinted at needing to see a lot better from Doohan after his drive at Abu Dhabi. Rumour has it it was Flavio that also wanted Ocon out, so I suspect unless Doohan runs close or better than Gasly then I suspect Flavio wont keep him around for long.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 18:59
There’s a difference between trusting a driver enough to give him an iron clad deal and signing him with get out clauses in case a better alternative becomes available or he fails to meet minimum expectations. Maybe you’re right in asserting he will get a full season no matter what, but just as we don’t know if he only has a contract for a limited number of races, you don’t know that his contract guarantees him a full season.
The mere fact Alpine has pursued FC to this level couldn’t be greater circumstantial evidence that they do have reservations about Doohan’s abilities. Do we see teams making this kind of move when they’re looking to show support for and instill confidence in a young driver? I think the answer is self-evident no matter what qualifications you apply (I.E., “we can’t know” or “no one forced them to sign him [JD]).
Finally and above all, our opinions or echoing of speculation good or bad about Jack or the team’s intentions will have no impact on whether Doohan gets a season, five races or no races to prove his doubters. So, it’s a rather fruitless crusade.
Elvira
10th January 2025, 10:27
You seem to be barracking hard given it’s fruitless.
From what I recall signing more drivers than seats in a season was Flavio’s MO in the old days – he lucked out occasionally and may well trust his divine judgement again. On the other hand, that MO showed he didn’t wait or care for actual on-track results, so he cannot be sure (perhaps that they can afford to build enough spares) or he’d have bitten the bullet contract or not.
El Pollo Loco
11th January 2025, 23:58
Briatore didn’t sign Doohan. He inherited him. Rio is a promotional reserve driver. Not a signing.
An Sionnach
10th January 2025, 1:25
I was expecting Flavio to snap him up a lot quicker than this. Maybe he’s losing his touch?
Williams should take note. They’ve sat on some at best substandard drivers for too long (Latifi, Sargeant, Albon) and… they’ve let Colapinto go to a rival team. Now they have Sainz, and… what’s the backup plan? Colapinto as a reserve would have been useful in case Albon is annihilated by Sainz…
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th January 2025, 8:00
Or Williams doesn’t want him as driver because he made a lot of damage (crashing behind a safetycar is a big nono) so they let you ripe with a other team.
Also with 6 rookies in F1 the other drivers in F2 will going thinking there will be no room for me for several years …. 1-2 F2 driver(s) promoting to F1 should be maximum.
El Pollo Loco
10th January 2025, 8:52
A couple of crashes, one of which happened in a race where half the field crashed, seems to be your single and repeated rationale for writing him off. You can fix wildness as we saw with Max. You can’t fix slow.
An Sionnach
10th January 2025, 9:24
Exactly. Colapinto is impressively fast. He won’t have forever to iron out the mistakes, but he’s still very promising. Doohan has started out very slow. When Lauda made his comeback he did a test with McLaren, set a decent lap, and, as he expected, found his physical condition was not enough for the faster ground effect cars. He knew he still had the speed and that his trainer would have him fit in time. Doohan was lacking in fitness. This is inexcusable for a driver who might (and did) get a shot at F1 with little notice. Many junior drivers may not get the chance at all. Not being ready physically is beyond comprehension. If that one drive was all the chance he ever got, nobody would sign him.
Sargeant was not fit enough, retiring from a demanding Qatar GP for fitness reasons. This might explain some of his other troubles, too, and points to a lack of dedication.
An Sionnach
10th January 2025, 9:32
Colapinto also has no shortage of passion. He loves driving. He is delighted when he does well and distraught when he makes a mistake. I’m no use to him as some form of idiot layman, but if I could be I’d be behind him pushing 100%. He has the character that F1 is often sorely lacking.
An Sionnach
10th January 2025, 9:34
Colapinto also has no shortage of passion. He loves driving. He is delighted when he does well and distraught when he makes a mistake. I’m no use to him as some form of i_d_i_o_t layman, but if I could be I’d be behind him pushing 100%. He has the character that F1 is often sorely lacking.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
11th January 2025, 11:36
If a Williams driver goes down with something (not appendicitis) there’ll be Luke Browning or any number of drivers already signed up, down to that kart racer they added before Christmas.
El Pollo Loco
12th January 2025, 0:01
Williams hasn’t lost him though. They’ve retained the rights to him. This deal allows him to drive for Alpine with both teams sharing the revenue his sponsors bring and Alpine also get a driver more likely to score points while Williams get to see if he’s the real deal with zero risk to themselves. Everybody wins, except Jack. But he’ll have an opportunity to prove himself. If he’s great, Colapinto won’t matter. If he’s just solid or worse, then he’s gone.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th January 2025, 11:08
Didn’t realise that. Sounds a bit like the deal with Jenson Button in 2001.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th January 2025, 19:06
@markwebber Flavio always liked having a Plan B and preferably a Plan C, in his previous stint as an F1 team principal. He also always thought that increasing the amount of pressure was guaranteed to bring out the best in anyone with whom he wished to remain associated. This is more of the same.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
9th January 2025, 19:09
So, that’s Doohan out then. I figure Alpine want the money that Colapinto potentially brings, which has got to be several large steps ahead of whatever Doohan can do. Colapinto’s arguably a talent and it’s good to see him in line for a potential drive but it’s sad it’s most likely at the expense of a driver they have nutured – as this move really indicates a lack of faith in Doohan. Alpine really are fascinating – they turn on their own engine and apparently also on their own junior.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 19:34
GP2! GP2 engine!
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
9th January 2025, 23:58
The Flavio effect
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th January 2025, 8:02
All junior drivers will think twice to signup for them.. But Colapinto damage records will be maybe toomuch for Alpine.
El Pollo Loco
12th January 2025, 0:04
Junior drivers will leap to get a chance where they can. They don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing, unless they’re a Max or Kimi who are going to sign for a better team anyway.
BasCB (@bascb)
12th January 2025, 12:50
Personally I find it funny that almost everyone here is saying that Doohans’ days are numbered due to this signing.
First of all, yeah, EVERY driver’ days are numbered as soon as they start in F1, and as @alianora-la-canta points out above, Briatore is certainly one to keep an eye on having options available to him if things do not turn out as (surely) hoped. The one thing I haven’t seen here, which has bemused me a bit, is the mention of Gasly having to look at stepping up, as if his seat was so much safer than that of Doohan. Especially with a driver like Colapinto who showed speed, showed he can please crowds and sponsors and brings deals with him.
Piere Gasly might be seen as safe-ish pair of hands now, but even despite getting preference with equipment for part of the season, he never looked like he was much ahead of Ocon on average, did he? What if Doohan actually DOES perform better than most here seem to suspect? And Ocon again shows he is not that impressive in the first half of the season (with the car unlikely to be too much of a points challenger)? Why wouldn’t HE be the one to find he’s not feeling great and has to sit out a race while Colapinto gets in?
El Pollo Loco
13th January 2025, 2:56
Sorry, but after Abu Dhabi Briatore was gushing about Gasly and decidedly unimpressed by Doohan. Gasly will have a real contract that is expensive to buyout and he’s considered the team leader. So, it’s pretty wild to advance the narrative that not only is Gasly not as safe as we think, but that we should be focusing on the possibility of FC replacing him rather than Doohan.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
14th January 2025, 5:48
Hmmm. I can’t really believe you are reading the same post as the one you are responding to, as Bascb is only asking reasonable questions. Whether Briatore was gushing or not it still stands to reason that any future change will likely reflect the situation at that time, so it is entirely reasonable to believe Gasly’s position may be in question if he does not perform. I cannot see any “wild” narrative advancement (though your suggestion that this exists does seem a little wild). In fact I’d argue the post acknowledges the popularly perceived outcomes, but merely questions why an alternative outcome has not been considered as it is not an impossible scenario.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
9th January 2025, 23:57
Anyone who things Flavio, of all people, wouldn’t drop Jack Doohan, irrespective of contract status, must have been convinced that Williams would never drop Sargent mid season, and can’t understand how these things could feasibly happen :)
El Pollo Loco
12th January 2025, 0:09
That and the fact that even before Colapinto arose as a property there were rumors that his contract only guaranteed six races. People who try to claim he has the right to an entire season seem to be forgetting the man had zero leverage in terms of negotiating his contract. Even if his contract didn’t specify six races, he still won’t have a meaningful buyout clause. So, it amounts to much the same.
So, yeah, so those who for some reason feel personally invested in Doohan are being naive or using wishful thinking to argue he can’t just be replaced.