Franco Colapinto is experiencing the best moment of his career in Formula 1 in 2026, and is already starting to achieve significant results with Alpine. After two consecutive weekends finishing among the top seven, the Argentine received praise from former category driver Jolyon Palmer, who pointed to the one-month break between Japan and Miami as a decisive factor for his recovery.
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This change of scenery is striking because the start of the season was quite difficult for the 23-year-old driver. In the first three rounds, Colapinto scored only one point, but since Miami he has been showing a much better performance, consolidating a clear evolution within the French team.
Besides the results, the numbers reinforce the transformation. The Argentine advanced to Q3 in the two most recent races and scored fourteen points during this period. The performances were also stronger than those of his teammate, Pierre Gasly.
Another important element for this evolution was the arrival of updates to the A526. In Miami and Canada, Colapinto started using components that were already installed on Gasly’s car, something that helped increase his confidence and understanding of the car’s behavior.
Still, Palmer believes that the mental aspect played a fundamental role in the recent growth of the Argentine driver. During a participation in the F1 Nation podcast, the former driver revealed he spoke with Colapinto after the race and highlighted the importance of the competition-free period between the Japan and Miami rounds.
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“I don’t think he knows exactly why. I talked to him after the race and he said that the month break between Japan and Miami was great for a reset,” Palmer said. According to the Briton, Colapinto acknowledged that he was driving acceptably at the start of the year, but always chasing Gasly, who seemed much more comfortable with the car.
Palmer also pointed out that the updates introduced by Alpine helped the Argentine better explore the potential of the equipment: “They brought some parts to the car in Miami and he seems to be feeling the grip better, understanding the car, more comfortable to trust it, making fewer mistakes and finding more performance,” he added.
According to the former driver, the combination of technical changes and the calendar break was decisive for Colapinto’s current phase: “Sometimes, just some time away from the tracks makes a difference and you come back with a renewed mindset. The car changed a bit and he is doing a tremendous job,” Palmer concluded.
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