On Friday 7 November, the BWT Alpine F1 Team announced that Franco Colapinto had signed a multi-year contract extension for 2026 and beyond. The Argentinian driver will race alongside his French teammate, Pierre Gasly. Currently sitting in last place in the Constructors’ Championship, which is evidence of a difficult season so far, the French team will surely try to take the positives from retaining their duo before focusing on nailing the 2026 regulations next year.
In January of this year, ahead of the 2025 Formula One season, Alpine signed Colapinto as a reserve and test driver following an impressive short stint at Williams. Colapinto then replaced Australian rookie Jack Doohan in the second Alpine seat from round seven of this season. Doohan struggled to meet the expectations set by Alpine and his manager, Flavio Briatore, who is also an executive advisor at Alpine. Since joining the team, Colapinto has not scored any points for Alpine, while Gasly has accumulated 22 points over the course of the season. Alpine are the only team not to have had both drivers score points so far this season.
While this statistic is bleak, there is a silver lining for Alpine.
Colapinto, who did not participate in pre-season testing, has shown gradual improvement throughout the season. After achieving a season-best 11th-place finish in Zandvoort and closing the gap on Gasly, Alpine are clearly seeing potential in the young driver. Following the announcement, Colapinto shared that “it has been a long and tough road, and I am very proud for the opportunity to drive with this team again in 2026”.
The announcement came on Friday, the day before the Brazilian Grand Prix. With the race taking place close to his home country, many eyes were on Colapinto to perform well and maybe finally bring home some points for the team. Unfortunately, it was a weekend to forget, with a big crash during the sprint race and 15th place in the Grand Prix — he only placed ahead of Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda.
There are still three races where Colapinto can get some much-needed points on the board to help prepare him for next year, which will definitely be unpredictable. Only time will tell if Colapinto will rise to the occasion and truly challenge Gasly, as the team hopes he will.
Featured Image Credit: Alpine F1 Team
Written by Leslie.
Edited by Jessica.
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