The Alpine reserve driver, widely expected to replace Doohan mid-season only a few week ago, is reportedly under consideration at VCARB.<\/p>\n
It has now emerged that Red Bull’s Helmut Marko was in Alpine’s hospitality at the Chinese GP – validating suggestions that Colapinto is on their radar.<\/p>\n
Why Colapinto is on Red Bull’s radar<\/h4>\n
In theory, two difficult races to start a season with a new team should not warrant the intensity of discussion and uncertainty of the last 48 hours.<\/p>\n
Of course, Liam Lawson’s situation is unique. His performances in Australia and China are not comparable to that of previous Red Bull drivers – and not for the right reasons.<\/p>\n
Although Red Bull might have ordinarily wanted to give Lawson time to acclimatise, the gap between the Kiwi and Verstappen is too big to ignore.<\/p>\n At this stage, the 23-year-old is nowhere near fighting for points.<\/p>\n Whilst the last two races are not necessarily representative of his abilities, Christian Horner’s team<\/a> must be realistic about whether Lawson can deliver this season.<\/p>\n Prior to signing Liam Lawson last season, Red Bull also showed interest in Franco Colapinto.<\/p>\n The Austrian outfit were still evaluating their two options at VCARB, and saw the Argentine as an interesting prospect to evaluate.<\/p>\n It must be remembered that Red Bull’s initial decision to put Lawson<\/a> into an F1 car only happened by chance – when Daniel Ricciardo crashed in Zandvoort.<\/p>\n Prior to this, they opted to put De Vries and then Ricciardo in their second team.<\/p>\n This is only worth mentioning because, in what is becoming an increasingly consistent trend, Red Bull’s promotion Lawson in 2024 was a marriage of convenience – rather than something they had planned several years prior.<\/p>\n In this context, it was hardly a surprise they were evaluating Franco Colapinto last year.<\/p>\n Although new reports that Colapinto is in the mix for a VCARB seat are somewhat unexpected, tracing a few steps backwards contextualises the teams’ renewed consideration for the youngster.<\/p>\n Indeed, Motorsport<\/a> have reported that Helmut Marko<\/a> was at the Alpine hospitality last Sunday.<\/p>\n Considering that Colapinto is currently an Alpine reserve driver, it seems logical the Argentine was the subject of his visit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/03\/WilliamsF1_141683_HiRes-1024x683.jpg\")
Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 19, United States Grand Prix, Sunday 20th October 2024. Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, USA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMarko has already spoken with Alpine<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/03\/WilliamsF1_137629_HiRes-1024x683.jpg\")
Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 17, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Friday 13th September 2024. Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n