While we thought the Franco Colapinto track at Alpine was ruled out for 2025, we learned Thursday evening that the young 21-year-old Argentine driver was leaving Williams to join the French team. It is now likely that he will replace Jack Doohan in a few weeks.
Are the dice already loaded for Jack Doohan at Alpine before the start of the 2025 season? This is more than likely after the announcement of the recruitment of Franco Colapinto as test and reserve driver for “a multi-year contract” says the Alpine press release. The Argentine driver who caused a big sensation in the second half of the season at Williams is therefore leaving the British team for Alpine. And considering the amount that the French team had to pay to its counterpart, it’s hard to see Colapinto staying on the sidelines for long. In the meantime, he declared himself very satisfied with joining Alpine:
“I am extremely happy to have the opportunity to join Alpine. First of all, I would like to thank Williams for all their support from my arrival in the Academy to the last race in Abu Dhabi. They made my Formula 1 dreams come true, and I will always be grateful to them. It is now time to write a new chapter, and taking on this challenge with Alpine is a true honor. A huge thank you to Luca [de Meo]Flavio [Briatore] and Oliver [Oakes] to believe in me and welcome me into the team with open arms. I can’t wait to get started and see where this adventure takes us. I also thank all the sponsors and partners who supported me in my challenges during the 2024 season.”
Same satisfaction from Flavio Briatore, the gray eminence of the French team:
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto. Clearly, Franco is one of the best prospects in motorsport right now. It’s fair to say that he surprised a lot of people, including me, when he appeared on the Formula 1 grid last year. His performance was very impressive for a beginner. We have an eye on our future and his signing means that we have an excellent pool of young drivers with whom we can count and work to develop the team for future success”.
A surprise recruitment
Rumors about the arrival of Franco Colapinto have emerged in recent days, his recruitment remains a surprise. At the end of the year, in an interview with the daily Le Parisien, Flavio Briatore explained that the money to put on the table to compensate Williams, pay Franco Colapinto and compensate Jack Doohan was not within Alpine’s means. Reason why Doohan would start the season. Now we don’t really see how he could hold his place over the whole of 2025. If he is at the start of the first Grand Prix next March in Australia, that will already be a miracle…
“In this sport, after a good race, you are quickly praised. Afterwards, the price goes up and suddenly we’re talking about 20 or 30 million dollars for a driver… We have contracts with Gasly, Doohan and our reserve driver Paul Aron for next season. If there was a possibility of bringing Colapinto in for 2026 is something we should think about. But for 2025 there no longer seems to be a possibility.”
Photo credit: Williams Racing.
