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Franco Colapinto faces pressure from Alpine to secure his Formula 1 seat for 2026 due to performance issues. He has struggled to match teammate Pierre Gasly, only earning points in one race this season.
Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images
Franco Colapinto is under pressure from Alpine to keep his seat in Formula 1 in 2026, and the Enstone outfit are starting to pick up on more issues with the Argentine.
Colapinto took over from Jack Doohan six races into 2025 but hasnāt been able to keep up with Pierre Gasly. This season, Gasly has picked up points in every race, while Colapinto only managed his first points finish for Alpine in Shanghai.
The gap between them has been most obvious during qualifying. Sources inside the team say that Colapinto isnāt on Gaslyās level, and now there could be concerns about him off the track as well.
Sam Bird believes Colapinto is being āslaughteredā by Gasly this year, with the Frenchman making good use of the Mercedes power unit. Gasly has reached Q3 at every round so far except one, including China Sprint, while Colapinto hasnāt made it into the top 10 once.
With his contract set to expire this year, Guenther Steiner suggested that if things donāt improve soon for Colapintoās time at Alpine could come to an end before seasonās end.
Scott Mitchell-Malm spoke on The Race F1 Podcast about the growing attention on Colapintoās qualifying struggles. He suggested that if the form doesnāt improve, it could turn into a significant problem for Alpine.
āI just think, the way Alpineās looking at it, youāre just going to have a bit of a doubt about whether or not this qualifying deficit can be eradicated,ā he said.
āAnd then the way F1 is, even in an era of yo-yo racing or battery racing or whatever you want to call it, grid position is still massively important, track position is still massively important.
āAnd there will come a point where the, āOh, if only this had happened, it would have been a slightly better resultā, the patienceās going to wear out for that.
āAnd I think the fact that Alpine had to put out the statement they did off the back of Japan does point to another potential problem.
āWhich is that, if the team has to deal with this massive narrative around Colapinto too often, that will ultimately count against him if it gets to a point of a near 50/50 decision on whether to keep him or replace him.ā
Jon Noble then pointed towards Williams driver Albon as an option: āI think one of those Williams drivers is primed for potentially moving on just because that team isnāt at the level it was anticipated to be.
āAnd if youāre looking at hard fast results whatās a team that seems to be pushing forwards? Which power unit do you want to have underneath you what can have decent potential? I think Albon does make a lot of sense.ā
Alpine could look within their own ranks if they decide to part ways with Colapinto. Alex Dunne, who recently arrived from McLaren, and reserve driver Paul Aron are the obvious candidates. But Scott Mitchell-Malm doesnāt see either as a likely choice.
āIn the Alpine mix, I donāt think Alex Dunne or Paul Aron will likely take any vacancy that arises should they get rid of Colapinto,ā he said.
āYouād imagine Aronās in the best place as the current reserve, and heās had opportunities in FP1 and private testing.
āBut I suspect they want to go with someone proven rather than go in that kind of inexperienced direction. Wouldnāt rule it out, and I think Aron is probably better placed.
āI think Dunneās too much of a wildcard. I think thereās a driver with loads of ability there, but I think heās too rough, to be completely honest. Thereās a bit of a worry that he doesnāt learn the lessons that he needs to.ā
Read more:
Colapinto is under pressure due to his inability to match teammate Pierre Gasly's performance, raising concerns about his future with the team.
Colapinto has only managed to score points in one race, while Gasly has earned points in every race this season, highlighting a significant performance gap.
Alpine is concerned about Colapinto's performance on the track and potential off-track issues that may affect his standing with the team.
Colapinto took over from Jack Doohan six races into the 2025 season.

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