Franco Colapinto arrived at Alpine with a strong reputation, having impressed Williams during his short spell with the team at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Initially drafted as a reserve driver, the Argentine was promoted to a race seat by the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Alpine boss Flavio Briatore deciding to replace Jack Doohan just five races into the Australian’s rookie season.
It was a ruthless decision that was widely criticised within the paddock, but one that was justified by Briatore by saying that he felt the team had to do what was best to find more competitiveness.
Doohan had a tough first couple of races, with a 14th-place finish as his best result, and so Colapinto stepped in at Imola, initially on a ‘trial’ basis that would see him alongside Gasly for the following five races.
Those five races became the entire remainder of the season, and Colapinto will enter his 15th event of the year in Brazil this weekend.
Alpine has said that the race for the second drive alongside Gasly next year is between Colapinto and its reserve Paul Aron, although recent reports suggest the Argentine may have already won that race and is set to stay on in 2026.
When Colapinto was handed the race seat, Briatore demanded that he drive fast, not crash and score points.
Colapinto’s early races with Alpine were rather underwhelming
Grand Prix Photo
Colapinto failed to meet most of those requirements immediately, having a hefty crash in his first qualifying session with the team at Imola.
Although the Argentine has made progress in terms of speed compared to Gasly, he remains the only current driver on the grid yet to score a point.
So, has Colapinto done enough to show he deserves the drive next year?
Closing the gap
The answer to the question posed above will ultimately only be decided by Alpine, but Colapinto’s numbers tell a story of a driver who started cautiously but has eventually managed to close the gap on Gasly.
In short, he’s been closer to his team-mate and has shown flashes of genuine promise, particularly in race trim, but the headline numbers still favour Gasly.
The most direct comparison with Gasly is the simple head-to-head.
Colapinto’s debut at Imola was a nervous affair, 16th on the grid and 16th at the flag. The driver admitted afterwards that he was “not quite there yet”.
From there, he still lagged behind Gasly, and it wasn’t until around the time of the Belgian GP that Colapinto closed the gap consistently on his team-mate.
An 11th-place finish remains Colapinto’s best result
Grand Prix Photo
Since Spa, the duo has been more evenly matched.
Across qualifying sessions since Colapinto stepped in, Gasly holds the edge in standard qualifying 11–5, but the Argentine driver outqualified the Frenchman three times in a row in Italy, Azerbaijan and Singapore, his best streak since joining the team.
In terms of race results the ledger is narrow — Gasly 8, Colapinto 6 — while championship points sit with Gasly on 20 to Colapinto’s zero.
But as Colapinto has drawn closer to Gasly, Alpine’s competitiveness has ebbed away.
The Argentine’s best form has coincided with the team’s worst, leaving him without a single point despite running much nearer to his team-mate’s pace.
Gasly’s 20 points all came earlier in the season, when the A525 was at least capable of flirting with the lower end of the top 10.
Since Colapinto found his footing, that faint opportunity has vanished, a reminder that progress for the driver has not been matched by progress from the car.
Gasly is still extracting slightly more single-lap pace from the Alpine package, but beneath the statistics lies a picture of narrowing margins, particularly in the races since Spa.
Colapinto’s progress, Alpine’s drift
Colapinto’s upward trajectory, his clean recent record, and his more calm approach all have strengthened his case ahead of 2026.
Alpine hasn’t scored a point in over three months
In recent races, his tyre management has improved, and his errors have diminished.
That is why Colapinto’s case is more compelling than his lack of points, particularly as Alpine has continued to drift further away from his rivals.
If Alpine’s decision is not yet made, it will likely rest on whether that trajectory continues in the final races of 2025.
For now, Colapinto’s record shows a driver still in transition but trending in the right ways.
From Alpine’s perspective, the 2026 seat decision involves weighing Colapinto’s raw potential, recent improvements, and ability to consistently score points against the risk of an unproven driver like Aron.
Whether Colapinto has justified the decision to replace Doohan is a difficult question to answer because the Australian never got the same amount of time his replacement was given.
Ultimately, Alpine’s lack of competitiveness has made the decision to replace a driver far less significant.
The team has drifted more and more towards the bottom of the field, and even Gasly’s proven skills have made little difference.
The French driver may have scored all of Alpine’s points this year, but he hasn’t finished in the top 10 in the last seven races.
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Ultimately, the debate over Colapinto’s future at Alpine may matter less than it appears; the real question isn’t whether Colapinto deserves to stay, but whether Alpine can give any driver a platform that makes the answer relevant.
Colapinto’s gains have come as Alpine itself has continued to slide further from the midfield it once belonged to.
That’s why, for all the focus on Colapinto’s prospects, Alpine’s bigger battle lies elsewhere.
Next year’s overhaul could at least provide that chance. Alpine’s switch to Mercedes power for 2026 promises a fresh technical baseline and the first genuine opportunity in years to reset its trajectory.
If the team can finally marry a competitive chassis to that engine, only then will decisions like who fills the second seat begin to matter again.
Colapinto may yet prove himself beyond doubt, but unless Alpine can rediscover its form, the point of who gets the second seat may remain largely academic.
