Hot Take: Franco Colapinto is Overhated
Hear me out - Franco Colapinto is actually not that bad of a Formula 1 driver. After the drama with Jack Doohan last season and a long stretch of not scoring points, many fans lost interest in Colapinto and Alpine altogether. However, the way this season is playing out proves that Colapinto’s previous struggles may not have been wholly his fault.
Objectively, Colapinto is one of the weaker rookies we’ve seen move up to F1 recently in terms of victory - but not experience. He won a few Argentinian karting championships in his youth along with the F4 Spanish Championship in 2019 and placed 3rd in a handful of other racing series throughout 2020 and 2021, such as the Formula Renault Eurocup, Toyota Racing Series Kiwi Motorsport, and the Asian Le Mans Series. These results are good, but don’t represent a very large percentage of the seasons he’s competed overall. He does, however, have more Formula 1 experience than some of the other rookies, as he replaced Williams driver Logan Sargeant midway through the 2024 season, debuting with a free trial of 9 races before becoming a full time Formula 1 driver. Because of this, Colapinto became the first Argentine F1 driver in 23 years.
Colapinto as Williams’ reserve driver in 2024. Photo courtesy of GP Hungary.
In 2025, Colapinto became the test and reserve driver for the BWT Alpine Formula One Team, later debuting at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and replacing Jack Doohan for the remainder of the 2025 season. Doohan was demoted to reserve driver after just 6 races, a harsh order sent from Flavio Briatore, de facto team principal. Despite confidence that Colapinto would find more on-track success than Doohan had, Colapinto failed to score any points, with his best race finish being P11 at the Dutch Grand Prix. Meanwhile, teammate Pierre Gasly was able to score 14 points over the same races using an identical car, which may have led Colapinto’s performance to be viewed in a more negative light in comparison.
During the 2026 season so far, however, Colapinto has found a way to shine a little brighter and show his skills during the Grands Prix. He scored his first point with Alpine in China after finishing tenth, with another success story in Canada a few weekends later as he ended the race in a career-best 6th place. This season, he has scored points in 4 of the 7 rounds, and is currently sitting P12 in the standings with 16 points. Pierre Gasly has also flourished in the new car, scoring 40 points over this year’s 7 races and even taking 3rd place in Monaco for a podium finish. Gasly is currently in 8th place competing for the WDC, and overall it seems that Alpine has improved their situation by a mile, as they are 5th in the field fighting for the WCC. Both Colapinto and Gasly’s performance this year implies that the issue last year was most likely the car itself. Briatore himself said last season that the team members "know we have a big handicap [from the] engine, and we hope to forget this year and to be happy in 2026” - so far, so good!
Colapinto suited up in pink for a grand prix with Alpine. Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.
I hope that Colapinto continues to get better this season and prove to F1 fans everywhere that he is meant to be at the pinnacle of motorsport. Do you think he has improved since last season? As always, thank you for reading, and don’t forget to follow @thewinningformulablog on Instagram for fun and insightful F1 content!
Lights out and away we go,
Lucy xx
