After the debacle in Austria: Colapinto’s Alpine rollercoaster nears the end of the line – In the grand tradition of Alpine’s 2025 season, a campaign that could be described as ‘performance art with carbon fibre’, Franco Colapinto may be about to take an unscheduled exit stage left. Fresh from a chaotic Austrian Grand Prix that saw more Alpine hopes dashed than a weather forecast at Silverstone, the young Argentinian is reportedly under threat of being dropped. Again.
Colapinto’s promotion to the Alpine F1 team was met with cautious optimism and a hint of excitement, as well as a great deal of scepticism. After all, what better way to replace the winless Jack Doohan than with another rookie in a season that was already teetering on the brink of farce? Yet that is precisely what Alpine did, handing the 22-year-old a five-race deal that, following the events in Austria, appears to have reached its natural expiration date, much like a gearbox failure at turn one.
The rise and (almost immediate) fall
According to RacingNews365, Colapinto’s seat is not just getting warm — it’s practically radioactive. The site claims that Alpine higher-ups were sharpening their metaphorical axes even before the race weekend began.
Then came Sunday, when Colapinto finished a lowly 15^(th) and incurred a five-second penalty for an ill-advised manoeuvre on Oscar Piastri, giving his bosses yet another reason to consider dismissing someone.
A race to forget at the Red Bull Ring
If Alpine were hoping for a miracle in Spielberg, what they got instead was the motorsport equivalent of a soggy sandwich. Colapinto’s weekend performance was a tragicomedy of errors: a slow pace, aggressive misjudgements and zero points — again. His on-track move on Piastri might earn a place in the FIA’s “how not to overtake” handbook, but it did little to impress the bosses back in Enstone.
Overall, Colapinto’s statistics are grim: five races, zero points, and an average finish that wouldn’t stand out in a midfield Formula 2 campaign. With two P13s, two P15s and one P16 to his name, the Argentinian driver has been consistently off the pace, but not quite dramatically enough to make headlines, until now.
Déjà vu: The Doohan parallel
Ah, yes: Jack Doohan. Perhaps Colapinto should have studied the cautionary tale a bit more closely. The Australian was similarly ushered into Alpine’s 2025 programme amid much fanfare, only to be quietly ejected after six races of fruitless flailing. This driver switch was as subtle as a plot twist in a Netflix docu-series, and now it seems Colapinto might be heading for the same fate.
Ironically, Colapinto replaced Doohan. The poetic symmetry of being shown the door in the same manner may be lost on Alpine’s strategists, who have long since abandoned any pretence of long-term planning, but it is not lost on the paddock.
Silverstone: The Final Curtain Call?
For now, Colapinto is expected to cling to his seat for one more weekend, arriving in Silverstone with the air of a man who has already packed his bags. With only a few days between Austria and Britain, it is likely that the logistics of bringing in a new driver are too tight. However, the summer break is looming, and with Spa on the other side, there’s a good chance that Alpine will use the downtime to reshuffle the deck once again.
They must reshuffle, because with every race, Alpine’s 2025 campaign veers closer to a parody of itself. Five driver changes in seven months, a car that can’t seem to finish in the points regularly, and a pit wall that appears to choose strategy based on lunar cycles, it’s no wonder some insiders are referring to the team as ‘F1’s version of the Bermuda Triangle’ for drivers and performance.
An Expired Experiment
Colapinto’s initial five-race deal always smelt of a “temporary solution”, and Austria marked the end of that short-term gamble. If this was meant to be an audition, it’s fair to say he fluffed his lines. He has shown occasional flashes of competence, but nothing that might force Alpine to rethink their ever-revolving door policy.
However, the problem may not lie solely with Colapinto. At a team where the technical direction changes as frequently as the weather, and long-term planning seems to span approximately two laps, any driver would struggle to shine.
Colapinto’s potential, while still undefined, has been buried beneath operational chaos, strategic misfires and a car that seems intent on reminding everyone that it was built on a budget of chewing gum and regret.
What’s next? Another chapter in Alpine’s story of chaos
Should Alpine choose to make changes during the summer break, there’s no shortage of candidates for the seat — most of whom are desperate, unemployed, or simply curious to find out what it’s like to drive for such a charmingly dysfunctional team. The irony is that even Alpine’s sacking strategy lacks consistency. Doohan got six races. Colapinto? Five. Perhaps the next driver will get four races, or maybe just a single sprint race, before being shown the paddock exit with a curt “thanks for playing”.
In any case, one thing is clear: continuity is not Alpine’s strong suit. As the team continues its transformation from a successful outfit to a running joke, Colapinto may well be the latest casualty of a system built on instability.
So, as we look ahead to Silverstone, Alpine’s fanbase, assuming such a group still exists, will not be watching for the car’s performance, which is unlikely to improve, but to see who’s still in the cockpit. Because if there’s one thing Alpine has excelled at in 2025, it’s keeping us guessing.
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
