Flavio Briatore doubles down on Franco Colapinto for 2026: “He can be a top driver”
Alpine has ended months of speculation by confirming Franco Colapinto will stay on alongside Pierre Gasly for 2026, with executive advisor Flavio Briatore insisting the rookie will come good despite a bruising first stint in blue.
It’s a bold call on paper. Colapinto arrived mid-season at Imola, stepping in for Jack Doohan, and promptly put his A526 in the wall during qualifying. Briatore’s three rules for the seat back then were blunt enough—be quick, don’t crash, score points—and the Argentine hasn’t ticked the last box yet. His best return is an agonising P11, while Alpine has slogged through a season mired near the foot of the Constructors’ table.
And still, Briatore has put his name to an extension that keeps the 22-year-old in the car for the first year of F1’s new ruleset.
“I’ve followed Franco closely and I’m convinced he has the attributes to be a top driver who can grow with the team,” Briatore said as Alpine announced the decision in São Paulo. “It’s been a tough year for everybody. In that context, Franco and Pierre have done their best to set us up for next season. With this line‑up, we’ve got a blend of experience, speed and talent—and a platform to move forward in 2026.”
Gasly is already tied down long-term and remains the anchor; Colapinto’s renewal is the bet. The Argentine has shown flashes—calm racecraft in the midfield chaos, decent pace offsets when the car behaves—but little in the way of results. A lack of points is a headline number, sure, but it’s also a blunt instrument. Alpine’s form has seesawed, and upgrades haven’t always landed. Within that, the internal read is that Colapinto’s trajectory has been positive enough to justify continuity over churn.
The decision also slams the door on late-season noise around Doohan being parachuted back in for the final flyaways. The Australian has been the ever-present shadow over the seat he vacated, and the rumour mill has been relentless. Alpine, in typical Alpine fashion, has picked its lane and gone hard: stability through the regulation reset.
Colapinto, for his part, sounded both relieved and ready to lean into the opportunity.
“I’m very grateful to Flavio and the entire team for their belief,” he said. “From my debut I knew the circumstances would make it a huge challenge to keep my place in this sport. It’s been a long road, and I’m proud to be back with Alpine in 2026, alongside Pierre who’s been a great teammate and someone I can keep learning from.”
Announcing it in Brazil adds a layer of sentiment. Interlagos is as close as it gets to a home race for an Argentine right now, and Colapinto hasn’t been shy about how much the regional support matters. “To have so many fans on this journey with me and the team is why we go racing,” he added. “With the reset coming next year, we want to give everyone something to really smile about. Vamos Alpine!”
There’s a pragmatic logic to Alpine’s call. If 2026 is a clean sheet, locking down a pairing early and building the car around them carries value, even if it invites a bit of heat in the short term. Gasly’s baseline is known. Colapinto’s ceiling, in Briatore’s mind, is worth chasing. And if you’re trying to drag a works outfit out of the weeds, betting on growth rather than another reset of your own makes sense.
None of this changes the fact that 2025 has been hard going. The team has lived at the wrong end of Q2 cutlines, and race days have largely been about damage limitation and opportunism. But F1 is rarely linear. Careers hinge on timing, and 2026 offers a hard reboot not just for Renault power but for the philosophy of the cars themselves. If Colapinto’s adaptation curve steepens with a fresh platform—and Alpine can finally give its drivers a kinder machine—this extension will look less like a gamble and more like groundwork.
Of course, the clock’s ticking. Even in a reset year, patience is finite. Briatore’s standards haven’t softened; he’s simply extended the window for Colapinto to reach them. The message is clear: keep it clean, be fast, and finally, score.
For now, Alpine gets what it’s been missing most: a little calm. The rest has to be built.
Signed and sealed 🤜🤛
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team)November 7, 2025
