A few weeks before the start of the new Formula 1 season, there are explosive rumors about Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, which are making waves, especially in Argentina. Apparently a prominent backer of the South American is withdrawing.
As the British specialist portal “RacingNews365” reports, the South American company Mercado Libre is no longer included in the sponsorship portfolio of the Alpine Formula 1 racing team. This raises questions, they say.
These questions primarily concern Colapinto’s future, because Mercado Libre, with its financial support over the last two years, played a major role in ensuring that the Argentine made it into Formula 1 and was allowed to stay there.
“RacingNews365” claims to have learned from unnamed sources that the company is rethinking its partnerships and its entire presence in Formula 1. The new approach is therefore to focus not only on the Argentinean market, but on the entire South American market.
Colapinto sponsor grabs two more Formula 1 stars
In keeping with this, Mercado Libre only signed a contract with Brazilian Formula 1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto in mid-January. The company logo also appeared on Sergio Pérez’s new Cadillac helmet. What exactly this means for Colapinto remains initially unclear.
According to the report, collaboration between Mercado Libre and Alpine is still conceivable – but then probably only in a scaled-down form. It is said that it is not known whether an agreement has already been reached.
In Argentina, the possible withdrawal of sponsors has been a constant topic for several days. Many fans apparently fear that Colapinto’s time in Formula 1 could run out if he loses part of his financial backing. In any case, he is only under contract with Alpine until the end of the year. It cannot be ruled out that it will be his last year in the premier class.
