Alpine’s season in 2025 has been pretty slow so far. With twelve races completed, they have only managed to score 19 points, and these have only been acquired by one of the three drivers. They have sacked F1 rookie Jack Doohan after just six races to replace him with Franco Colapinto.
While Colapinto’s stint with Alpine might be marginally better than Doohan’s, he still hasn’t managed to put any points on the board for the team. Even though the Alpine car hasn’t been the strongest this season, we have seen several situations in which backmarker teams have managed to score big this year. Colapinto has some insights that may prove valuable to the second half of Alpine’s 2025 season.
Colapinto labels Alpine’s car as unpredictable
After the British Grand Prix weekend, the Alpine pair have commented on their overall car performance and race pace. While improvements have been made to the car, they haven’t managed to put together a whole weekend yet. Franco Colapinto has commented on his season so far and where he struggles the most compared to his teammate:
“We need to try and understand how to bring the performance already on Fridays, because then it’s a lot of time we’re trying to find from Friday to Saturday.”
“We need to try to make the car a bit more predictable. Luckily, we know our weaknesses. The car is quick when it’s in the window. As soon as it goes out of that, it becomes quite tricky to drive. Pierre has similar issues. But, of course, after he’s been driving the car for four years, it’s very easy to kind of understand where the limit is.”
Here’s the moment Colapinto went off 🎥#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/SZRKRBPhJ2
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 5, 2025
The operating window of Formula 1 cars has become a large topic of conversation in the past year. It’s an issue many teams are struggling with. Among them are top teams like Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. Alpine seem to be no exception to this problem.
Another issue for Alpine is the matter of their driver lineup. Franco Colapinto only has a contract for this year and can be fired if he doesn’t perform. However, Colapinto himself doesn’t seem to be too worried:
“I’m not very concerned. Of course, there are always talks. I just need to keep working and trying to help the team to improve the car.”
Although with the driver market about to fire up, no one can be deemed completely safe of their F1 seat for 2026.
Colapinto compares his 2025 Alpine stint to 2024’s Williams stint
The Argentine driver was no stranger to an F1 car when he was called up to replace Doohan at Alpine. He already had nine GP’s under his belt at Williams from when he replaced Logan Sargeant last year.
A completely different car to drive, but a Formula 1 experience nonetheless. Having driven both cars so shortly after one another, Colapinto draws some clear comparisons:
“Last year was probably easier for me at Williams but this year, as I’m struggling with that confidence on all those entries, with that instability, with that feeling of nervousness and that just feeling that the car is not well connected, it makes me not have the confidence probably that I need early in the weekend.”
“It’s little by little but it’s still coming, that performance. Not as quickly as I would like, but the solutions to the issues are coming and we are finding them. To me, that’s the main thing.”
What Franco Colapinto Needs to Do to Secure a Full-Time Seat With Alpine
Alpine’s 2025 campaign continues to hang in the balance. While the pace has been inconsistent and the results underwhelming, there’s still time to shift momentum. For Colapinto, the focus remains on adapting quickly and extracting more from a tricky package. The coming races may define not just Alpine’s season, but Colapinto’s future in Formula 1.
