{"id":37966,"date":"2025-11-11T16:14:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=37966"},"modified":"2025-11-11T16:14:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:14:20","slug":"alpine-colapinto-sponsors-were-not-main-factor-in-contract-renewal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/11\/11\/alpine-colapinto-sponsors-were-not-main-factor-in-contract-renewal\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpine: Colapinto sponsors were not main factor in contract renewal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Franco Colapinto<\/a> has been confirmed for Alpine’s 2026 driver line-up, ending months of speculation about his future. Alpine determined that Colapinto is performing at a high enough level to justify another season with the team.<\/p>\n

It should be noted, despite the rumours surrounding Colapinto, that he signed a multi-year agreement with Alpine in January.<\/p>\n

This is why Jack Doohan’s days at Alpine<\/a> were always seen as numbered – with the French outfit negotiating for months to sign Colapinto from Williams. Of course, breaking the Argentine from his contract prematurely came at the price of millions of pounds.<\/p>\n

From this perspective, it was always unlikely that a new name would partner Pierre Gasly in 2026. Despite this, Alpine made sure to carefully consider their final decision.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Franco Colapinto in Mexico City. (Photo by Zak Mauger\/LAT Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Franco Colapinto earned new contract “on talent” say Alpine<\/h2>\n

Colapinto’s F1 comeback was initially difficult, as a combination of mistakes and underwhelming performances impacted his market value.<\/p>\n

Flavio Briatore<\/a> wasted no time in calling for the 22-year-old to improve, as the team assessed his future. In many ways, Briatore’s remarks are what created so much uncertainty about Alpine’s duo for 2026.<\/p>\n

Still, it is clear that Alpine – despite their investment into the Argentine – wanted him to earn his seat. This is why Colapinto remained firmly under the microscope even after the summer break.<\/p>\n

The #43 car responded to this spotlight with solid performances, regularly matching Pierre Gasly’s output<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whilst the A525 has lacked the pace for Colapinto to have chances to score points consistently, direct comparisons against his more experienced teammate point a positive image. In the context of not having any pre-season, Alpine’s newest signing responded well.<\/p>\n

Team principal Steve Nielsen explained to Sky F1 the factors behind extending Colapinto’s deal:<\/p>\n

“Franco obviously did some races with Williams last year, <\/em>substituted for Jack from Imola – and struggled a bit to start with, to be honest.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Then, gradually, and we’re lucky to have Pierre as a kind of marker, an established driver, Franco was able to up his game and take the fight to Pierre. And in a car that’s not as competitive as we would like.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But nonetheless, when you compare them to each other, he started doing a reasonable job and became comparable to Pierre – even quicker than Pierre on a few occasions. So ultimately, that’s what got him the seat.<\/em><\/p>\n

“You can\u2019t ignore the financials. Of course, it plays a part in it.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But ultimately, we\u2019ve got Franco on talent. The fact that he brings a financial side is a happy accident.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Franco Colapinto in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Andy Hone\/LAT Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alpine with something to prove in 2026<\/h4>\n

Aside from Paul Aron, whose experience in F1 machinery has been limited to a few tests and Free Practice sessions, there were no obvious alternatives to Colapinto.<\/p>\n

In this sense, Alpine have silenced rumours which – in many ways – could have been prevented from taking root. For the next few months at least, there should be less noise and speculation surrounding the French outfit.<\/p>\n

Unlike the front-runners, and even some midfield outfits like Aston Martin<\/a> or even Williams<\/a>, expectations for the Enstone-based operation are relatively low ahead of 2026. They certainly are not among the favourites to lead the pack.<\/p>\n

However, this does not mean there are not ambitious targets being set internally. After several years of regression, there is a lot at stake in Alpine’s development for the next generation of cars.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Sam Bagnall\/Sutton Images (Alpine Media Gallery)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Franco Colapinto has been confirmed for Alpine’s 2026 driver line-up, ending months of speculation about his future. Alpine determined that Colapinto is performing at a high enough level to justify another season with the team. It should be noted, despite the rumours surrounding Colapinto, that he signed a multi-year agreement with Alpine in January. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":37969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2575,2452,1818],"class_list":["post-37966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-alpine-f1-team","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-franco-colapinto"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37966"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37971,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37966\/revisions\/37971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}