In the game of musical chairs set to take place in F1, Franco Colapinto’s name was right in the mix. Yuki Tsunoda was being tipped to fill in for the struggling Liam Lawson at Red Bull. And Colapinto’s name was buzzing as the potential replacement for Tsunoda at Racing Bulls.
But for once, the rumor mills appear to have got it wrong. Sources now state that Colapinto will stay put at Alpine.
Colapinto replaced an underperforming Logan Sargeant at Williams midway into the 2024 season and impressed, scoring points on two occasions. In the off-season, he joined Alpine, becoming a reserve driver due to a lack of open spots on the grid.
Lawson’s woeful results brought the Argentine driver back into the discussions with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko even spotted at the Alpine motorhome in China after the race last weekend. However, the Enstone-based team reportedly has other plans for him, leaving Red Bull to find another alternative.
Alpine has a struggling driver of its own in Jack Doohan. The Australian driver has failed to impress in the opening two races of the campaign, and Colapinto is now poised to replace him.
ESPN reported that Doohan will be sacked after the Miami GP when the European leg of the season kicks off with the Imola GP weekend from May 16-18.
Whether good performances from the Australian driver will help change the Alpine top brass’ minds remains unknown. But the fact that Colapinto is so strongly linked to the seat now doesn’t come as a surprise, as Doohan’s seat appeared to be under threat even before the season got underway.
Doohan hitches a lift back to the pit lane #F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/jiHfjTdCqS
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 21, 2025
Doohan was reportedly signed on a six-race contract, which was likely a factor in signing Colapinto as a reserve in the first place.
Colapinto comes with a plethora of rich sponsors, all of whom would be ready to pour in millions into Alpine, if he gets a race seat with them in the near future. In fact, Alpine recently inked a partnership deal with Mercado Libre, Colapinto’s personal sponsor and one of Latin America’s most popular e-commerce platforms.
So, if Doohan doesn’t do anything extraordinary, Alpine could very well choose to replace one young, talented driver with another.
Racing Bulls and their parent team, Red Bull, meanwhile, will turn to alternatives to deal with the Lawson situation. The Milton Keynes-based team could simply choose to give Lawson more time to find his feet and get better at the main team. If he fails, the Kiwi could simply be swapped with Tsunoda, which could help him revive his confidence at the Faenza-based outfit.
