F1 star Franco Colapinto lands ANOTHER new role... just days after replacing Jack Doohan

franco colapinto, alpine, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Colapinto lands ANOTHER new role... just days after replacing Jack Doohan

Franco Colapinto will race for Alpine in Imola

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 13 May 2025 10:58 Updated: 11:20

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Franco Colapinto has landed a new role just days after it was announced he would be replacing Jack Doohan at Alpine for the next five rounds on the Formula 1 calendar.

Alpine have undergone two major changes in the past week, with Doohan returning to the role of reserve driver, and Oliver Oakes’ exit as team principal.

As F1 heads to Imola, Flavio Briatore will take on Oakes’ duties and guide their new driver lineup of Pierre Gasly and Colapinto, as the team look to solidify their position in the midfield.

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Alongside his promotion to Alpine, Colapinto has landed another role within the French team’s family, and has announced on Instagram that he is now an ambassador for the Renault brand in his home country of Argentina.

"Happy to be an ambassador of Renault Argentina," he wrote. "Ever since I was a child, my family had a Renault, and I feel it represents many of us Argentinians! I hope you like the new Renault Esprit Alpine!"

Why did Alpine axe Doohan for Colapinto?

Whilst Alpine’s pace has not always placed their drivers in a points-paying position, Doohan struggled to match team-mate Gasly during his tenure in F1, and the Frenchman has acquired all seven of the team’s points so far in 2025.

A lap one collision with Liam Lawson at the Miami Grand Prix also did little to help Doohan’s cause, one he had been fighting since Colapinto was named Alpine reserve driver at the start of the year.

The Argentine’s impressive nine-race run at the end of 2024 with Williams earned him a spot in the reserve ranks of Alpine, and Briatore claims his promotion is to make sure they have assessed all their drivers so the team makes the right decision for their 2026 driver lineup.

Alpine’s best chance of improvement and moving up the grid will come in 2026, when the regulations change with a rule reset, which may shake up the competitive order in F1.

In 2014, it was Mercedes who nailed the new regulations, whilst Red Bull enjoyed a dominant start to the ground effect era in 2022.

Whether it will be Doohan or Colapinto or someone else entirely racing for Alpine in 2026 remains to be seen, but they will be hoping to have a stable lineup if they do produce a race-winning car - especially after losing the likes of Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri and Esteban Ocon in recent years.

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Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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Alpine Pierre Gasly Franco Colapinto Jack Doohan Flavio Briatore Imola