Franco Colapinto He is already a pilot Alpine in the Formula 1. The young Argentine driver will return to racing in the top category in 2025 for the French team.
His contract is as a reserve driver, but the peculiarity is that the rookie Jack Doohan signed with Alpine for the first 5 races of the season. That is to say, unless it has phenomenal performance, Colapinto will replace him from the sixth Grand Prix of the year.
Alpine, which finished sixth in the Constructors’ championship in 2024, confirmed the incorporation of Colapinto through a post on its social networks. “He joins us with a multi-year contract. Franco will be our reserve driver for 2025,” the team detailed on its social networks.
Everything indicates that the Argentine will be “Plan B” in case the Australian Jack Doohan do not get the desired results.
Given the officialization of the news, Williams reviewed the Argentine’s career remembering that although he ran the last nine races of the 2024 season of the Formula 1 World Championshiphas been part of his team since the Pilots Academy.
At the same time, he highlighted that the Pilar native had become the first Argentine driver to compete in the highest category of motorsport after 23 years, after competing in the Italian Grand Prix.
After his arrival at Alpine, the team leader, James Vowlesexpressed his happiness after reaching an agreement between both teams: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Alpine for Franco to join the team on a multi-year agreement from 2025.”
“Throughout nine memorable races with Williams, Franco clearly demonstrated that he deserves a place in Formula 1. We always said we would support him to achieve it,” he continued.
On the other hand, Vowles highlighted that his drivers for this season will be the Thai Alex Albon and the Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr: “Williams has one of the most formidable driver lineups on the grid for 2025 and beyond with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, “So we believe this deal with Alpine represents Franco’s best chance of securing a seat in the 2025 or 2026 race.”
“We are proud to have returned Argentina to the F1 grid, we want to thank Franco for everything he has contributed to the team and we look forward to future battles on the track,” he concluded.
On the other hand, Colapinto also said goodbye to Williams with an emotional thank you: “I want to say a huge thank you to Williams Racing and the team partners, who supported me from the moment I joined the Academy and gave me the opportunity to become a Formula 1 driver. They made my dreams come true and I will always be grateful for that “.
“I would like to thank the mechanics and all the team members who made a huge effort to put the car on the track and give me the opportunity to score points. And to the fans, who have supported us so much in the good and bad times; “they are the best”concluded the Argentine.
Colapinto’s premonitory mistake at the Singapore GP
During the Singapore GP a funny situation arose due to a mistake by Colapinto, which ended up being a premonition of what would happen just a few months later.
The thing is that, during one of the sessions, Colapinto went to the wrong box and went to the Alpine box, when he should have gone to the Williams box. Both teams laughed at this situation, without imagining the Argentine’s future in the French team.
Through this, the teams joked on social networks where there was a back-and-forth. First, Alpine uploaded a photo with the text: “Come on, @FranColapinto”, to which Williams had responded “Can’t park there, sir.”
Then the French team also uploaded a meme, alluding to things that should not be there, with the photo of Colapinto in the Alpine pits.
During his first Grand Prix in Formula 1, Colapinto had very good performances and it was a constant to see him surpass the Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who could be his partner in case they decide to start him in Alpine.
In this way, Colapinto is closer than ever to returning to Formula 1a category in which he competed in the last nine Grands Prix of 2024 with the Williams team.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
