Franco Colapinto’s first full F1 season with Alpine in 2025, didn’t go according to plan. The 22-year-old Argentine, who replaced Jack Doohan from the Imola Grand Prix onwards, endured a point-less campaign that left him 20th in the standings. Yet speaking in Abu Dhabi last month, Colapinto remained remarkably optimistic about what lies ahead, viewing 2025’s struggles as essential preparation for Alpine’s 2026 reset.
Finding lessons in adversity
When asked about Alpine’s development throughout the difficult F1 2025 season, Colapinto was philosophical about the value of hardship. “Yeah, I think it’s very simple. I think from the lows is when you learn the most. This year we had a lot of lows and that’s been a very good learning and a very good understanding of things,” he reflected.
Those lows were considerable. Alpine finished last in the Constructors’ Championship with three drivers across the season, and the A525 proved fundamentally uncompetitive. The race leader lapped Colapinto in 12 main races and twice in Monaco alone. His teammate Pierre Gasly fared only marginally better, with the leader lapping him 10 times in their shared races.
The qualifying statistics told an even starker story. Colapinto managed just five Q2 appearances to Gasly’s 10 in shared races, and never reached Q3 in a main race qualifying session whilst Gasly advanced seven times.
A season of setbacks
Colapinto’s return to full-time F1 began poorly. In his very first qualifying session at Imola, he misjudged Tamburello, briefly touched the grass, and lost control of the rear, spinning into the gravel trap and hitting the barrier. It was the second major Q1 crash after Yuki Tsunoda’s earlier incident.
The crashes continued. At Silverstone, he lost the rear in the final corner during Q1, causing another red flag. Further incidents followed in the São Paulo Sprint and Azerbaijan qualifying, plus a less publicised crash during Pirelli testing at the Hungaroring’s Turn 11.
Yet through these difficulties, Colapinto was struck by something unexpected from Alpine. “I think the team, since I joined, we did big steps in terms of how to help me to feel better and more comfortable with the car, not really giving up and keep pushing in difficult moments was one thing I was really surprised,” he said. “When it’s not going well or as you expect or as you want, it’s tricky to keep the motivation up and going week after week trying to perform and find new things and I saw that from the team.”
Moments of promise
Despite the overwhelming negativity of the statistics, there were glimpses of genuine pace. At circuits like Austin and Mexico, Colapinto showed he could match or beat Gasly, proving that the raw speed existed beneath the struggles and mistakes.
“So that was to me very impressive and something that I think when the car is competitive it’s going to bring a lot of good results to the team because they deserve it and hopefully it comes sooner than later,” Colapinto added, praising Alpine’s perseverance through the difficult campaign.
A fresh start
Alpine’s radical changes for next season, switching from Renault to Mercedes power units alongside new technical regulations, offer Colapinto the reset he desperately needs. When asked whether 2026 would provide a better opportunity to showcase his talents with everyone starting from scratch, his response was immediate and hopeful.
“Yeah, of course. I think that 2026, for the rookies especially, it’s a car that is completely new, that no one really knows and it’s probably bringing everything a bit more equal between the drivers and the grid and it’s something that we expect that it’s going to be,” Colapinto explained. “Of course a car that will be performing more competitively than this year and yeah, also better for the rookies.”
The Argentine sees the new regulations as an equaliser that could neutralise his experience deficit against established drivers. “We haven’t driven this car for as long as the others and it’s going to bring it a bit more equal, I think, between all the drivers and the grid,” he said.
As he said himself, from the lows is when you learn the most. For Franco Colapinto and Alpine, 2026 will reveal just how much they’ve learned.
