Alpine confirm Williams super-sub Colapinto as reserve driver for 2025 season

Franco Colapinto will join Alpine as one of their reserve drivers in 2025, it has been announced, with the Argentinian racer further bolstering the team’s back-up pool for the season ahead.

Colapinto burst onto the F1 scene last year when Williams drafted him in to replace the axed Logan Sargeant – who was struggling for form in his sophomore campaign – from the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

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Halting his first full term in F2, which had yielded a breakthrough victory, the 21-year-old immediately looked at home behind the wheel of F1 machinery, reaching Q3 and scoring points at only the second attempt in Azerbaijan.

Colapinto bagged another point at the United States Grand Prix and, while subsequent incidents took the shine off his arrival, he had turned heads in the paddock and drew plenty of praise from Williams team boss James Vowles.

Indeed, Colapinto’s initial performances saw him linked with several rival teams over a potential 2025 race seat, but none of these ultimately materialised, while Williams had already signed Carlos Sainz to partner Alex Albon.

Now, following plenty of media reports, the next chapter of a rollercoaster F1 journey so far will see Colapinto join Alpine’s reserve roster – slotting in alongside the recently announced Ryo Hirakawa and Paul Aron.

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In a press release issued by the Enstone operation on Thursday afternoon, Alpine confirmed that they had “entered into an agreement” with Williams to secure Colapinto’s services on a multi-year deal.

Colapinto, Hirakawa and Aron will give Alpine plenty of back-up options behind their confirmed full-time 2025 driver line-up of Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan – the latter stepping up from his test, reserve and development role.

“I am super excited to have the opportunity to join BWT Alpine Formula One Team,” began Colapinto. “First of all, I want to say thank you to Williams for all their support from the moment I joined the Academy until the last race in Abu Dhabi. They turned my dream of racing in Formula One into reality, and I will always be grateful for that.

“Now, it is time for a new chapter, and to take on this challenge with BWT Alpine Formula One Team is truly an honour. A huge thank you to Luca [de Meo], Flavio [Briatore] and Oliver [Oakes] for believing in me and welcoming me into the team with open arms. I cannot wait to get started and see where this journey takes us.

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“Also, a massive thank you to all my sponsors and partners who stood by me through the challenges of the 2024 season. Your support made it all possible, and to my incredible fans in Argentina: ‘Muchas gracias!’ Your passion and encouragement mean the world to me. Let’s aim for even greater things in 2025 and beyond.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor at Alpine, said: “We are very pleased to come to an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto. Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now.

“It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula One grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver.

“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”

Meanwhile, Williams boss Vowles commented: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Alpine for Franco to join the team on a multi-year arrangement starting in 2025. Over nine memorable races with Williams he clearly showed he is deserving of a place in Formula 1 and we always said we would support him to get one.

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“Williams has one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid for 2025 and beyond in Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, so we believe this agreement with Alpine represents Franco’s best chance of securing a race seat in 2025 or 2026.

“The Williams Racing Driver Academy exists to discover and develop the F1 stars of the future which is exactly what it has done in Franco’s case, and builds on our long tradition of giving talented young drivers their break at the top level of motorsport.

“We are proud to have returned Argentina to the F1 grid, want to thank Franco for everything he has brought to the team and look forward to future battles on track.”

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