Steve Nielsen, Alpine’s boss, believes that Franco Colapinto has the potential to improve his performances in Formula 1 starting from the 2026 season, despite a difficult period with the team’s car in 2025. Colapinto was promoted to the team after Jack Doohan’s departure, after the sixth race last year, but faced difficulties with an uncompetitive car. In his season, the Argentine failed to score any points, with his best result being an 11º place at the Dutch GP. On average, he was 0,315 seconds slower than his teammate, Pierre Gasly, in qualifying sessions.
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Before his arrival at Alpine, Colapinto had a promising start in F1 with Williams in 2024, scoring points in two of his first four races, including an impressive 8º place in Azerbaijan. However, with Alpine’s 2025 car, he was unable to repeat the success, although Nielsen believes that changes to the car for the new season could unlock more talent from the Argentine driver.
Nielsen stated that Alpine’s 2025 car had several inherent problems, but that many of these challenges were resolved with the new 2026 regulations: “The drivers can now enjoy much more and are not complaining about performance, which is a great evolution,” he stated. The Alpine boss further described Colapinto as a ‘slowly rising talent’, highlighting that he may be developing more slowly than others, but that he has already shown signs of progress, especially when compared to Gasly in some 2025 races.
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With a better car for the 2026 season, which now features Mercedes engines instead of the Renault ones used until last year, Nielsen is confident that Colapinto will be able to show his true potential.
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