Franco Colapinto has departed Williams to join Alpine on a multi-year deal and will serve as the Anglo-French Formula 1 outfit’s reserve driver in 2025.
Colapinto made an instant impact when he was placed into F1 mid-season with Williams in 2024, scoring on his second run in Baku as Logan Sargeant’s replacement.
But while he backed that up two races later with points in Austin, Colapinto’s nine-round stint wasn’t an audition to retain his seat as Williams had signed Carlos Sainz.
However, his exploits have caught the eyes of Alpine who secured a deal with Williams to sign the Argentine on a multi-year contract, with the first year being a reserve driver role.
“I am super excited to have the opportunity to join BWT Alpine Formula One Team,” Colapinto said.
“First of all, I want to say thank you to Williams for all their support from the moment I joined the Academy until the last race in Abu Dhabi.
“They turned my dream of racing in Formula One into reality, and I will always be grateful for that.
“Now, it is time for a new chapter, and to take on this challenge with BWT Alpine Formula One Team is truly an honour. A huge thank you to Luca [de Meo], Flavio [Briatore] and Oliver [Oakes] for believing in me and welcoming me into the team with open arms.
“I cannot wait to get started and see where this journey takes us. Also, a massive thank you to all my sponsors and partners who stood by me through the challenges of the 2024 season.
“Your support made it all possible, and to my incredible fans in Argentina: ‘Muchas gracias!’ Your passion and encouragement mean the world to me. Let’s aim for even greater things in 2025 and beyond.”
Colapinto ‘among best young talents in F1’ – Briatore
Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore had made no secret of his admiration for Colapinto and the Argentine’s signing will surely serve as pressure to Australian Jack Doohan, who is set to embark on his first full F1 campaign this year.
Colapinto joins Ryo Hirakawa and Paul Aron on Alpine’s reserve roster but undoubtedly will be the best-placed to get a full-time race seat out of the three.
“We are very pleased to come to an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto,” said Briatore.
“Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now. It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula One grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver.
“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”
Williams ‘pleased’ to have resolved Colapinto’s F1 future
In a team statement, Williams Team Principal James Vowles expressed his gratitude towards the departing Colapinto.
With Alex Albon and Sainz enjoying multi-year deals with the Grove outfit, Colapinto’s race opportunities at Williams were always going to be limited moving forward and thus Vowles is “pleased” to have secured the Argentine’s future.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Alpine for Franco to join the team on a multi-year arrangement starting in 2025,” Vowles said.
“Over nine memorable races with Williams he clearly showed he is deserving of a place in Formula 1 and we always said we would support him to get one.
“Williams has one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid for 2025 and beyond in Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, so we believe this agreement with Alpine represents Franco’s best chance of securing a race seat in 2025 or 2026.
“The Williams Racing Driver Academy exists to discover and develop the F1 stars of the future which is exactly what it has done in Franco’s case, and builds on our long tradition of giving talented young drivers their break at the top level of motorsport.
“We are proud to have returned Argentina to the F1 grid, want to thank Franco for everything he has brought to the team and look forward to future battles on track.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen reveals how Williams could have avoided Franco Colapinto headache
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