After a disappointing begin to his Method 1 profession, Australian racer Jack Doohan has been changed on the Alpine F1 workforce by reserve driver Franco Colapinto. The change will see Colapinto race for the French workforce from F1’s subsequent outing at Imola, for a minimum of 5 rounds.
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The 21-year-old racer joined Alpine as a reserve driver earlier this yr, having beforehand raced for the Williams F1 workforce in 2024 after he was known as on to exchange one other underperforming driver, Logan Sargeant.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 27 Might 2003, Colapinto kicked off his karting profession aged 10. The teenager started racing in his house nation, the place he competed till 2017 when he made the transfer to Europe. A yr later, Colapinto’s time in karts got here to an finish following victory within the 2018 Youth Summer time Olympics.
2018 was additionally the yr that Colapinto made the step as much as the F4 Spanish Championship, the place he raced for Drivex Faculty, for the primary time. The Argentinian racer completed ninth in his first season and adopted this with general victory within the collection a yr later.
For 2020, Colapinto took one other step up the racing ladder with a transfer to Method Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Sequence, ending third general in each collection.
Price range constraints compelled Colapinto’s subsequent transfer, and from 2021 he raced in sportscars and entered the Asian and European Le Mans Sequence, in addition to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The change didn’t final lengthy, nonetheless, and Colapinto contested his first Method 3 season in 2022 with Van Amersfoort Racing. After taking two race wins in his debut season and ending ninth within the standings, he was signed on as a Williams Academy driver for 2023 and made the change to MP Motorsport in F3.
Two race wins and a fourth-place end general secured his promotion to F2 for the next season, and Colapinto additionally had his first style of F1 equipment at a post-season take a look at in Abu Dhabi in 2023.
Franco Colapinto, MP Motorsport
Picture by: Method Motorsport Ltd
Colapinto’s F2 profession bought off to a gradual begin in 2024, however his fortunes circled following an in-season take a look at in Spain. He then picked up his first win within the dash race at Imola and have become an everyday challenger on the entrance.
Williams continued Colapinto’s preparations for F1 and he accomplished FP1 on the 2024 British Grand Prix, which allowed him to get acquainted with the Williams FW46. Quickly, he was given the Williams seat full-time after the Grove-based workforce determined to half methods with American racer Sargeant.
This gave Colapinto 9 races to show himself at Williams, which he did with a finest end of eighth on the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This sparked rumours of a transfer to the Purple Bull camp for the 2025 season, however the Argentinian’s inexperience confirmed with a pair of violent crashes in Las Vegas and Brazil, and this put Purple Bull off his scent.
The 21-year-old was subsequently signed by Alpine as a reserve driver for the 2025 season, the place he labored within the simulator and stood on the sidelines ready for his time to shine.
On this article
Sam Corridor
Method 1
Franco Colapinto
Alpine
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