Franco Colapinto is not on the 2025 grid despite his somewhat impressive cameo with Williams in the second half of last season. However, his father has hinted at a comeback for his 21-year-old son during the upcoming season via a now-deleted Instagram story.
Colapinto’s father posted a picture of himself with a group of presumably his family or friends, holding sparkling wine glasses, and the story had a caption in Spanish. “There are few of us who already know everything… F1 2025,” he wrote, as per @f1gossippofficial on Instagram.
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Before he could delete it, several fans naturally took screenshots of the story and circulated it in social media forums, wondering about what it could mean. While Colapinto will not be on the 2025 grid as things stand, his father may know of something that the fans do not.
Nonetheless, Colapinto impressed many with his performances last season after replacing Logan Sargeant midseason. He scored points and showed a lot more potential in a handful of races than the Florida-born driver did in a season and a half.
However, Colapinto’s crash-prone tendencies toward the business end of the season may have pushed teams away from signing him as a full-time driver for 2025. Williams were unable to offer him a seat due to their high-profile signing of Carlos Sainz on a multi-year contract besides Alex Albon, who had already extended his deal.
Meanwhile, there was a possibility that Red Bull could sign Colapinto from the Grove outfit, who were keeping him on as a reserve. But the Austrian team opted to promote Liam Lawson to their main team while replacing the Kiwi with their Academy graduate Isack Hadjar at their sister team, RB. So, that closed the door for Colapinto at Red Bull.
Now, with all the seats filled up for 2025, the only outside chance that Colapinto’s father could be hinting at is Alpine. The French team had been flirting with the possibility of bringing the Williams driver on board despite having promoted their reserve man Jack Doohan.
Can Colapinto make a surprise mid-season return to F1?
Flavio Briatore at Alpine has been making some big moves to turn their fortunes ever since he joined midway through the 2024 season. The Enstone outfit has already replaced Esteban Ocon with Doohan as a potential positive change to its driver lineup, besides the technical overhaul behind the scenes.
However, there were reports that Briatore considered overturning that decision to rope in Colapinto after seeing his amazing points-scoring performances for Williams. This meant that Alpine would have had to demote Doohan — a rather brutal move after announcing his promotion — to bring in the Argentine driver.
Franco Colapinto to Alpine for 2026, anyone?https://t.co/wZkCKWNHt2 pic.twitter.com/pKN8gW110w
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) December 15, 2024
When asked about that possibility, Briatore confirmed that reports about approaching Colapinto were true. But he added, “I am always looking for the best options for us. [Gasly] did a great job last season, and we are starting the new season with him and Jack.”
Unless Doohan fails to live up to the team’s expectations, Alpine won’t consider making a change to their driver lineup in 2025. So, Colapinto will most likely stay as a reserve driver for Williams while searching for a full-time seat for 2026.
