Alpine make Franco Colapinto axe decision after latest blow in testing crash

Argentine racer Franco Colapinto has yet to score a point for Alpine since replacing Jack Doohan earlier this season and there is increasing pressure on his place in Formula 1

Franco Colapinto is set to get the rest of the season to save his Formula 1 career. The Argentine’s place with Alpine has been under increasing scrutiny amid his failure to score a single point since replacing Jack Doohan earlier this year.

Colapinto was signed in the off-season from Williams, who had fielded him nine times in the 2024 campaign but had no room in their driver line-up to retain him this year. He joined Alpine initially as a reserve driver, his presence alone suggesting Doohan’s days were numbered.

And that turned out to be the case. Just six rounds into the season, having failed to register a point, Doohan was dropped back into a reserve role and Colapinto elevated into a race seat.

The Alpine press release announcing that switch in May stated that Colapinto had been given an initial five-race period to show what he could do. Eight events later and the 22-year-old remains in the seat.

That is despite some uninspiring results and a failed to score a point so far. He has finished above 15th place in a Grand Prix just twice so far, thanks to a couple of 13th-placed results in Monaco and Canada.

He did not help his case this week by crashing in a Pirelli tyre test at the Hungaroring. An Alpine spokesperson confirmed that Colapinto had been assessed by medics on site and was uninjured despite losing control of the car at turn 11 and burying the car into a barrier.

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Yet, there has been patience shown to him by the team and its leader Flavio Briatore. The Italian, who is technically an adviser to the Renault board but who has been given full control of the struggling F1 outfit, has publicly called for more time to be given to Colapinto.

And that seems to be what the team is set to do in terms of its immediate plans for that seat. As it stands, Colapinto will continue to race for the team after the summer break and could get until the end of the season to find improved form, reports PlanetF1.

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But should his form continue to underwhelm, a switch has not yet been ruled out entirely. Doohan remains eager for a second chance to show what he can do, while Alpine also have Paul Aron on the books and waiting for his first chance to race in F1.

The Estonian racer finished third in last year’s Formula 2 championship, behind Isack Hadjar and title-winner Gabriel Bortoleto. Both of them have graduated to F1 while Aron signed a reserve deal with Alpine and has represented both the Enstone team and Sauber in practice sessions so far this year.