{"id":344276,"date":"2025-08-14T16:19:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/344276\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T16:19:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:19:19","slug":"alpine-considering-replacing-franco-colapinto-with-one-of-the-best-drivers-at-the-tail-end-of-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/344276\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpine considering replacing Franco Colapinto with \u2018one of the best\u2019 drivers at the \u2018tail end\u2019 of 2025 season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alpine are one of a handful of teams yet to settle on their driver line-up for 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eight vacant seats are remaining for the 2026 Formula 1 season<\/a>, provided that no drivers with a contract for next year are released from their agreements early.<\/p>\n

Mercedes, Cadillac and Racing Bulls still need to confirm both of their drivers for next year.<\/p>\n

F1 Oversteer<\/strong> understands that Mick Schumacher is very confident of racing for Cadillac<\/a>, with Sergio Perez most likely to be his teammate.<\/p>\n

Mercedes are closing in on a deal for George Russell<\/a>, and he\u2019s expected to be joined by Andrea Kimi Antonelli once again.<\/p>\n\nTEAM<\/strong><\/td>\nDRIVER 1<\/strong><\/td>\nDRIVER 2<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAlpine<\/td>\nPierre Gasly<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAston Martin<\/td>\nFernando Alonso<\/td>\nLance Stroll<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAudi<\/td>\nGabriel Bortoleto<\/td>\nNico Hulkenberg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nCadillac<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFerrari<\/td>\nCharles Leclerc<\/td>\nLewis Hamilton<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nHaas<\/td>\nEsteban Ocon<\/td>\nOliver Bearman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMcLaren<\/td>\nLando Norris<\/td>\nOscar Piastri<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMercedes<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRacing Bulls<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRed Bull Racing<\/td>\nMax Verstappen<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWilliams<\/td>\nAlex Albon<\/td>\nCarlos Sainz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

2026 confirmed F1 drivers<\/p>\n

Racing Bulls have to wait to see what Red Bull do with Yuki Tsunoda before they confirm their drivers, leaving the only other vacancy at Alpine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pierre Gasly<\/a> has been superb this season and scored 100% of the team\u2019s points after 14 races.<\/p>\n

Gasly is already signed up for 2026<\/a>, but Franco Colapinto<\/a> doesn\u2019t have the same luxury, having replaced Jack Doohan<\/a> earlier in the year.<\/p>\n

Flavio Briatore<\/a> is now considering his options, and a driver he once described as \u2018one of the best<\/a>\u2019 could end up finishing the season alongside Gasly at Alpine.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: Who is Alpine 2025 F1 driver Franco Colapinto? Everything you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AlpinePhoto by Kym Illman\/Getty ImagesAlpine could give Paul Aron his Formula 1 chance at the \u2018tail end\u2019 of the 2025 season<\/p>\n

A report from ESPN<\/a> has shared more details about Alpine\u2019s stance on the Formula 1 driver market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with F1 Oversteer<\/strong>, Alex Jacques suggested Colapinto has the toughest gig in F1<\/a>, having only been placed on a race-by-race contract.<\/p>\n

Alpine have been linked with Valtteri Bottas<\/a>, although the Finn is also on Cadillac\u2019s radar, but could once again get caught between two teams and end up racing for neither if things don\u2019t go his way.<\/p>\n

The report goes on to say that reserve driver Paul Aron<\/a> could be given his chance to prove himself at the \u2018tail end of the year\u2019.<\/p>\n

Aron finished third in the Formula 2 championship last year, behind Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, who are both proving that the best rookies are more than ready to race in F1.<\/p>\n

However, \u2018sources\u2019 close to Alpine believe that Colapinto might end up staying with the team beyond this season, \u2018regardless\u2019 of whether his form improves.<\/p>\n

Despite not scoring a point in his eight race weekends since replacing Doohan at Imola, it\u2019s believed that the \u2018importance of the money he brings\u2019 could clinch the seat for the Argentine for 2026.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: Who is Alpine reserve driver Paul Aron? All to know from age to racing stats<\/a><\/p>\n

How Franco Colapinto ranks among the 2025 Formula 1 grid<\/p>\n

The summer break is a good time to evaluate how each driver has performed this season.<\/p>\n

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and George Russell have stood out at the top of the championship, but several other drivers deserve plenty of credit in slower cars.<\/p>\n

The likes of Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and Hadjar have all shown moments of brilliance, while Gasly fares well considering how difficult Alpine\u2019s car is to drive.<\/p>\n\nPosition<\/td>\nDrivers’ Championship<\/td>\nPointsPts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n1<\/td>\n <\/td>\n284<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2<\/td>\n <\/td>\n275<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n3<\/td>\n <\/td>\n187<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n4<\/td>\n <\/td>\n172<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n5<\/td>\n <\/td>\n151<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n6<\/td>\n <\/td>\n109<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n7<\/td>\n <\/td>\n64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n8<\/td>\n <\/td>\n54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n9<\/td>\n <\/td>\n37<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n10<\/td>\n <\/td>\n27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n11<\/td>\n <\/td>\n26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n12<\/td>\n <\/td>\n26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n13<\/td>\n <\/td>\n22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n14<\/td>\n <\/td>\n20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n15<\/td>\n <\/td>\n20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n16<\/td>\n <\/td>\n16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n17<\/td>\n <\/td>\n14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n18<\/td>\n <\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n19<\/td>\n <\/td>\n8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n20<\/td>\n <\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n21<\/td>\n <\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Colapinto was only ranked above Doohan and Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> following the Hungarian Grand Prix, highlighting the progress he needs to make to guarantee his place on the grid next year.<\/p>\n

Whether Alpine want to gamble on a third rookie this year in Aron is yet to be seen.<\/p>\n

However, some Alpine staff rate Aron higher than Colapinto and Doohan<\/a>, which could make him a tantalising option for the final portion of the campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alpine are one of a handful of teams yet to settle on their driver line-up for 2026. Eight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4289,4199,707,101951,4200,4292,42192,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-344276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-alpine","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula-1-driver-market","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-franco-colapinto","14":"tag-paul-aron","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115028031355881865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}