Most of the attention around Alpine this year has concerned their driver line-up, as opposed to their on-track performance.
It is true the French team have consistently been at the centre of driver market changes in recent years.
From Oscar Piastri’s shock McLaren move to replacing Esteban Ocon before the 2024 finale in Abu Dhabi, there is often a story surrounding Team Enstone.
This trend has continued this season, with Colapinto replacing Doohan after just a handful of races.
Despite his agreement with Alpine being a long-term deal, there is still uncertainty about Colapinto’s future at the team.
Colapinto focused on strong execution
Rock bottom in the standings, this has been a year to forget for Alpine.
Away from the track, constant changes to senior positions – most notably team principals – have been a destabilising force at Enstone.
In less than twelve months, Pierre Gasly has seen three different drivers on the opposite side of the garage.
Despite all these swaps, the Frenchman’s teammate for 2026 remains in doubt.
Colapinto currently occupies Alpine’s second seat, which he seemed certain to take after signing a multi-year agreement with the team in January – albeit initially as a reserve driver.
Still, the implication from this contract was that Colapinto would eventually become a full-time driver.
The immense pressure on Jack Doohan, and his subsequent replacement, ultimately validated this suspicion.
Since joining the team, Colapinto has experienced several obstacles that have made his F1 comeback somewhat uncomfortable.
With no points to his name, even in the worst car this year, the 22-year-old is targeting a strong end to the season:
“I’m just focusing on myself and trying my best,” he told the media today.
“Of course there is a lot of work to do with the team, and we are working hard to get all the performance out of the car – and that’s our goal.
“It’s great to have Valtteri [Bottas] and Checo [Perez] back in F1 as well, so I wish them the best.
“Hopefully we can have a good last 10 races, it’s our focus and our goal is to maximise the car.”
Avoiding major errors is critical
At first glance, none of Colapinto’s results this year have been especially convincing.
Then again, considering the A525’s performance, this is not something the Argentine can be blamed for.
Relative to teammate Pierre Gasly, Colapinto has shown reasonable pace – especially on race day.
Given the difference in experience between these drivers, their performance gap has not been very significant.
When adding this to the fact Colapinto had no pre-season with the team, he deserves some grace for some of his incidents.
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, he is unlikely to receive much forgiveness from Flavio Briatore if he makes unnecessary errors.
Ideally, points are the objective for both Alpine drivers in the remainder of 2025.
However, both Gasly and Colapinto are unlikely to have many opportunities to finish in the top 10 – based on what the A525 has shown this season.
This means that negative headlines, such as crashes or spins, are most likely to follow the Alpine duo over the next 10 rounds.
As the last few months have shown, Colapinto will receive very little praise for outperforming Gasly if his car is only capable of P15.
Because of this, a combination of solid performances but – most critically – clean weekends are essential for the #43 car.
Main photo: via Alpine media gallery
