Franco Colapinto has admitted he has still work to do to salvage his Formula 1 career, as speculation over his future continues to be a major talking point in the F1 paddock.
The Argentinian has endured a challenging tenure at Alpine since replacing Jack Doohan early in the season, and remains pointless, with only Doohan behind him in the driver’s standings.
His struggles continued once again in Baku, with a dramatic crash in Q1 adding further fuel to a burning fire ignited by Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore.
Alpine’s de-facto boss admitted last month that promoting Colapinto may have been premature, branding the driver swap as a possible “mistake”.
As speculation over who will take the second Alpine seat for 2026, the battle is now set to come down to a straight shootout between Colapinto and Aline test and reserve driver Paul Aron.
Speaking about his uncertain future in the sport, Colapinto acknowledged the rumours, but revealed he had a strategy to improve his performance in the second half of the season.
“There have been a lot of rumours, and I don’t really look at them too much”, he said.
I’m used to it, and it’s the way in Formula 1 or any sport is like this, and the athletes need to get used to it, I guess.
“I’m just trying to focus on race-by-race, trying to focus on my own performance, and the results are not what we want as a team.
“I’m fully focused on maximising what I can do in the car, and the rest will come.”
Could Singapore be the start of a performance turnaround for Franco Colapinto?
As F1 prepares for the Singapore Grand Prix, Colapinto is upbeat about his chances at the famed night race, having raced at the Marina Bay Circuit before.
However, he made the admission that he needs to learn quicker, but was happy to miss out “being fully on the details” on the car when acclimatising to car set up on race weekends.
“Basically, I know what to expect, I know where the car is, I know what the track actually brings, so I know that some corners are going to be more understeery or that I am going to need more rotation or stability here.
“Maybe I am not getting up to speed quicker, but I feel it is going to give me that little bit I miss of being fully on the details and being fully on top of the tools and all the little things on the car.”
READ MORE – How the Azerbaijan GP may have decided the 2026 Alpine F1 line-up
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