Franco Colapinto’s Formula One career is hanging by a thread. The young Argentinian was recruited by the Alpine team over the winter break last year following a spectacular debut for Williams as a replacement for the hapless Logan Sargeant.
Williams decided they’d persisted with the Canadian for long enough and Colapinto immediately rewarded their decision by delivering points in two of his first four races. Yet the fairly tale story ended there as the rookie driver was plagued by a series of driver errors and huge crashes, meaning he DNF’d in four of the last five Grand Prix of the season.
Red Bull who had expressed interest in Colapinto during his early race weekends as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez, dropped the idea and instead promoted Liam Lawson to the hot seat alongside Max Verstappen.
Colapinto race by race deal
Alpine had signed rookie Jack Doohan to replace the outgoing Esteban Ocon, although the timing of this decision suggests this may not have been done with new executive advisor, Flavio Briatore’s express blessing. The Australian driver was given a six race contract for 2025, but having failed to score a point and consistently being a long way behind his team mate Pierre Gasly, Alpine decided it was time to put Colapinto in the car.
In the detail, Franco has faired a little better than his predecessor in terms of the gap to Gasly, but he is now the only driver who has failed to score this season and he rarely features outside the first qualifying session. He was initially on a five race contract, although now with seven weekends under his belt, he is now retained on a race by race basis.
Its an open secret that Briatore has had multiple conversations with Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, over borrowing the team’s reserve driver Valtteri Bottas for the remainder of the season. The latest being for around half an hour in the Austrian paddock where terms were reportedly agreed.
In Canada Bottas confirmed this to be the case adding that the Alpine executive, “first showed interest through Toto.”
Bottas not jumping at Alpine chance
Yet the Finn didn’t appear to be joyful at his imminent F1 return even questioning the benefit of a temporary drive for another team. “A short stint somewhere – will that help me in any way?” said Bottas. “I don’t know.”The focus is really on 2026 onwards. I believe that there will probably be more talk about next year than this year.”
Valtteri looks a nailed on probability to drive for Cadillac next season, who as the new eleventh team are yet to declare their drivers. The pool available is somewhat limited given the cycle of F1 driver contracts already in place and taking into considering the American owned team are looking for experienced drivers.
Again in Canada, Bottas confirmed he had already been in talks with Cadillac’s team principal, Graham Bowden. “The situation is that discussions have taken place,” Bottas confirmed. “It’s just talk and discussions. I’ve learned, especially last year, that nothing is certain in this sport until the names are on paper. At the moment, we are exploring all the options.”
Now TJ13 has learned that Valtteri Bottas will only take up the temporary position at Alpine once the deal with Cadillac is done and dusted. There is a risk that in jumping into Colapinto’s seat at Alpine before his deal Cadillac is concluded, that if Bottas fairs poorly against team mate Pierre Gasly – while he beds into the team – this may cause Cadillac to reconsider their decision.
Colapinto’s future dependent on Cadillac
So ironically, Franco Colapinto’s immediate F1 future rests on decisions made by a team who are yet to enter the sport. At the Belgium Grand Prix, F1 photographer Kym Illman spoke with Valtteri about his links with Cadillac and he admitted he was ‘close’ to signing a deal with the Americans, but no ink has yet been committed to paper.
“This is Valtteri Bottas out in pit lane on Sunday before the race, and I had a chat with him and said: ‘Look, I’ve seen a couple of very strong reports saying that you’ve already signed with Cadillac,” said Illman when speaking to his YouTube channel.
“He said: ‘No, I haven’t signed with Cadillac, but we are close’. Of course, close doesn’t mean guaranteed, but I think if I was a betting man, I might have a lazy wager on him being one of the two drivers for Cadillac next year.”
Cadillac have reportedly been speaking to a number of drivers who are currently not competing in F1 including the 2022 F2 champion, Felipe Drugovitch. Since winning his title the young Brazilian has been languishing in the bowels of the Aston Martin factory in Milton Keynes as a reserve driver.
Schumacher a distant hope
Former Haas F1 racer Mick Schumacher has also been speaking to Lowden, although the German’s case isn’t as strong as a number of those he is in competition with following his mediocre two seasons with the US backed outfit.
Given the trails and tribulations of those inhabiting the second seat at Red Bull this year, Sergio Perez’s efforts against Max Verstappen in 2024 now look positively stella. The Mexican driver has to be a favourite to be picked up by Cadillac and his 281 starts, 39 podiums and 6 grand Prix victories are the perfect experience for a fledging F1 team.
Perez too brings substantial financial backing to any team he races for, and whilst Cadillac have deep pockets, as with all the F1 teams today they will wish their racing outfit to predominantly finance itself.
Russell saves his seat…. by accident?
Paddock insider ‘fears’ for Colapinto
Veteran pit lane reporter, ted Kravitz appeared to sum up Colapinto’s plight in his race review notebook at the recent Belgium Grand Prix. “Franco Colapinto, it would surprise no one in Formula 1 if Franco Colapinto wasn’t being challenged significantly for his seat now – both by the original occupier, Jack Doohan and potentially by Valtteri Bottas.
“He was given another chance today, and he was 19th, so no points for him. At least he didn’t crash, but I feel desperately sorry for Franco Colapinto. I know he can be faster than that, but he’s just not got any confidence in the car at the moment,” concluded the Sky F1 presenter.
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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.
