Franco Colapinto to race for Alpine F1 Team at the next five rounds

Alpine F1 Team have announced that Franco Colapinto will step up and race for them for the next five rounds, starting in Imola next weekend.

The Argentine driver graduated up to F1 in the middle of the 2024 campaign, completing the final nine races of the year for Williams, scoring points in both Baku and Austin.

Prior to that, he took part in the first 10 rounds of the Formula 2 season with MP Motorsport, achieving three podium finishes which included a victory in the Imola Sprint Race.

Alpine then secured Colapinto’s services before the start of the 2025 season, and he took up a Test and Reserve role for opening six races of the campaign.

He is now set to take up a full-time race seat for the team at the next five races, starting at Imola, and the 21-year-old is excited for the opportunity to be back racing.

“Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races,” said Colapinto. “I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone.

“I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”

Flavio Briatore, Alpine’s Executive Advisor, added: “Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races.

“With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up. We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.

“We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”