As was announced on Friday of the current Formula 1 weekend in Brazil, Franco Colapinto will continue to drive for Alpine alongside Pierre Gasly in 2026.
According to Martin Brundle, former Formula 1 driver and now TV pundit, it could be argued that keeping Colapinto was a financial decision. After all, the Argentinean brings in a lot of sponsorship money from his home country – namely from Mercado Libre – to Alpine.
When Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen was confronted with exactly this argument from Brundle on “Sky Sports F1” over the Brazil weekend, he replied: “You can’t ignore the financial aspects. Of course they play a role. But ultimately we signed Franco because of his talent. The fact that he brings the finances with him is a happy coincidence.”
Colapinto joined Alpine on a multi-year contract as a reserve driver ahead of the 2025 season. After the first six races of the season he was put in the racing cockpit instead of Jack Doohan. And now the Argentine has confirmation that he will remain a regular driver at Alpine for 2026.
Steve Nielsen: Alpine “considered all available options”
When asked why Colapinto was given preference over others, such as current Alpine replacement driver Paul Aron, Nielsen explains: “Franco did a few races for Williams last year. From Imola onwards [2025] He replaced Jack and, if we’re honest, he struggled a bit at first. But then little by little, little by little…”
“We are fortunate to have an established driver like Pierre as a kind of benchmark. Little by little, Franco was able to raise his level and stand up to Pierre, in a car that is not as competitive as we would like.”
“Nevertheless: If you compare them with each other, Franco started to do a reasonable job. In some cases he was even faster than Pierre. Ultimately, that’s what got him the place,” said Nielsen, referring to the contract extension for 2026.
The Alpine managing director also explains that they considered all available options, including those outside the team’s own driver pool: “To be honest, we had them all on the table and many more drivers who have since gone elsewhere.”
“Little by little we decided on Franco. We’re happy with that. But yes, we considered everyone who was in question at some point,” said Nielsen.
Flavio Briatore “saw a change” in Colapinto
Flavio Briatore’s explanation for extending Colapinto’s contract sounds very similar. “I think Franco was a little lost at the beginning. He needed three or four races to get significantly better,” Briatore is quoted as saying by Formula1.com in his role as Alpine consultant.
“If you see Franco when he started with us and you see him now, then he is a different person. He is much more self-confident, much more committed to technology and has done everything he can to perform,” praises Briatore and adds: “In the last two or three races, the team’s performance was still not good, but Franco’s performance was very good.”
According to Briatore, he “spent a lot of time with Franco” and “saw a change in him in the last few months.” To what extent? “He talks to me like a different person, with more responsibility. He understands what he is doing with the team and the technology. He really surprised me.”
“At the beginning there were a lot of people in the team who were not convinced by Franco’s performance. But if you look at the past races, hats off. There were no accidents and he drove very well. He was very close to Pierre, sometimes two tenths of a second ahead of him, sometimes two tenths of a second behind him. And I consider Pierre to be one of the best drivers in Formula 1. I think he is one of the six best drivers in Formula 1,” said Briatore.