Franco Colapinto became the first Argentine driver to score points in Formula 1 since Carlos Reutemann in 1982, after the surprise announcement that he would drive for Williams mid-way through the 2024 season.
Now driving for Alpine, Colapinto appears to be in a fight for his Formula 1 future, as he looks to convince the team that he deserves a long-term deal despite a series of costly errors.
The driver has quickly risen from relative obscurity since he was announced as Logan Sargeant’s mid-season replacement at Williams in 2024, despite having never done more than eight consecutive laps in a Formula 1 car.
He had less than a week to prepare for his debut at the Italian Grand Prix, and followed up a solid 12th-place finish with a series of strong results, including eighth place in Azerbaijan and tenth in the United States Grand Prix. That flurry of promise brought rumours of a potential switch to the Red Bull F1 family, but after a late season dip in form, Colapinto ended the year without a 2025 drive.
He did, however, secure a reserve contract with Alpine which was rumoured to include the promise of a race seat during 2025. That came to pass five races into the season when Colapinto repalced Jack Doohan.
Early career
Colapinto’s rise through the racing ranks hasn’t been meteoric, but his resume of results speaks for itself. Two national karting titles in Argentina in 2016 and 2018 were quickly followed by title-success in Spanish Formula 4 in 2019 — a feat which set him on a path toward impressive campaigns in Formula Renault (2020), the Castrol Toyota Racing Series (2020), and in sportscars in the Asian and European Le Mans Series (2021).
A return to single-seaters in 2022 put Colapinto’s F1 ambitions back on track, as he picked up pole positions and race wins in Formula 3 before being signed to the Williams Racing Driver Academy Programme in 2023. Under the watchful eye of the Grove outfit, Colapinto went from strength to strength, first finishing fourth in the 2023 F3 standings before earning a move to F2 with MP Motorsport in 2024 where his ability continued to grow in the form of race wins and podium finishes.
Promotion to Formula 1
Then came the call from James Vowles.
At the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, Colapinto was thrust into a Williams F1 seat in place of Logan Sargeant and instantly impressed, qualifying 18th and finishing 12th. At the following round in Azerbaijan, he was even more spectacular, as he qualified ninth — ahead of team-mate Alex Albon — and finished eighth. Another point-scoring finish would follow at COTA, causing interest in the young Argentine to soar.
For a time, he was reportedly being considered for full-time race seats at Alpine and even Red Bull, but after he failed to finish three out of his final four races, interest cooled and Colapinto was placed back on the sidelines.
Move to Alpine
In early 2025, Colapinto’s F1 journey took a new turn, as he signed a multi-year contract with Alpine as its official reserve and test driver, with the agreement that he could return to Williams in the future.
After just five races, Alpine decided to replace Jack Doohan, and Colapinto was given a chance to race alongside Pierre Gasly, starting at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
