Who is Franco Colapinto? Alpine’s new F1 star replacing Jack Doohan

Alpine Formula 1 team made a brutal driver decision after just six races of the 2025 campaign, dropping Jack Doohan back down to his role as a reserve driver and instead promoting Franco Colapinto to replace him immediately from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Colapinto is no stranger to a midseason seat swap but is under even more pressure this time around with Alpine’s executive advisor Flavio Briatore only giving the Argentine racer five grands prix to prove himself before the team assesses their options again.

During the 2024 season, Williams Racing made a significant driver change just in time for the grid to head to Monza back in September.

Following the Dutch Grand Prix, Williams announced Logan Sargeant would be dropped from the team after failing to score a single point in 15 rounds and was replaced by the team's academy driver and F2 star, Colapinto.

Sargeant was already set to depart the team at the end of the season, with Carlos Sainz taking his seat in 2025. Yet, Williams' boss James Vowles deemed it necessary to make a change midseason to optimise their chances of scoring points.

The Grove-based squad sat in ninth place in the constructors' standings prior to Colapinto’s entry to the team, having only scored four points through their Thai-British driver Alexander Albon.

The young Argentine star secured four points in Azerbaijan after placing eighth in the grand prix, adding an additional point to his name over the US GP weekend at COTA. His total of five points in just four races crushed the mere four points in seventy races earned by previous Williams drivers’ Sargeant and Nicholas Latifi combined.

Unfortunately, Colapinto's end to the season with Williams failed to produce any more championship points with Vowles' outfit remaining P9, but for 2025, Colapinto found a new home at Alpine as one of their multiple F1 reserve drivers.

After just six championship rounds however, the young prospect has once again been called up to boost an F1 team’s chances, with Alpine undergoing a serious reshuffle as team principal Oliver Oakes announced his immediate resignation just one day prior to Alpine’s driver swap confirmation.

The 21-year-old now has just five races to prove that he deserves to stay in the Alpine seat as the team believe they will only get better as the season goes on and want to ensure they have the optimal driver duo in place for the incoming regulation change next season.

So what else is there to know about the young driver who has been called up once again, eager to grasp the unique opportunity for a return to F1? Let's find out.

Early life and career

Born on May 27, 2003, in Pilar, Buenos Aires, Colapinto began his karting journey at the tender age of nine.

He quickly established himself as a promising talent, winning the Argentinian Championship twice in 2016 and 2018 and claiming victory in the 2018 Youth Summer Olympics.

In the same year, Colapinto moved to Europe to embark on his single-seater journey, claiming a victory and a runner-up finish in the final round of the FIA Spanish F4 championship.

His performance caught the eye of Fernando Alonso's team, FA Racing by Drivex, who secured his services for the following season.

The young driver dominated the 2019 Spanish F4 championship, having claimed 11 race victories, 13 podium finishes, and 10 pole positions on his way to snatching the title by a 98-point gap over P2.

He then competed in the Toyota Racing Series in 2020, winning one race and finishing on the podium eight times before securing third overall.

Returning to Europe the same year, Colapinto competed in the Formula Renault Eurocup with MP Motorsport and finished third in the championship as the highest-ranked rookie.

He continued his upward trajectory in 2021, winning two Grand Slams and finishing on the podium twice in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. He also finished third in the Asian Le Mans Series and fourth in the European Le Mans Series that year.

In 2022, Colapinto made the step up to FIA Formula 3 with Van Amersfoort Racing, where he took pole position in his first-ever F3 qualifying. He then went on to secure two race victories and five podium finishes, ranking ninth overall in his rookie season.

In 2023, the Argentinian continued his strong showing in F3, winning two sprint races at Silverstone and Monza and ranking fourth in the standings.

Earlier that year, he joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy and was awarded an F1 Young Driver Test with Williams Racing at the end of the 2023 season.

In 2024, Colapinto moved up to Formula 2 with MP Motorsport, teaming up with Dennis Hauger. He claimed his first win in the sprint race at Imola and also set the fastest lap.

Having had a taste of the FW46 in FP1 at Silverstone this year, the 21-year-old was in a perfect position to make his F1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix, becoming the first Argentinian driver to compete in the championship in two decades.

For 2025, Williams waved goodbye to their young star as he headed to Alpine, where he joined Paul Aron, Ryo Hirakawa and Kush Maini as a reserve driver, with the pressure mounting on the team's lineup of Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly to perform well in 2025.

Ryo Hirakawa has since swapped teams and now acts as a reserve for Haas F1 team, but F2 stars Aron and Maini now eagerly await their shot at F1 should Colapinto fail to meet Briatore’s expectations before the 2025 British GP.

READ MORE: McLaren chief confirms Max Verstappen F1 signing talks

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