Worrying Franco Colapinto future update as two F1 alternatives emerge for Alpine seat

Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz believes Franco Colapinto is “being challenged significantly” for his Alpine F1 seat following a difficult Belgian Grand Prix.

Colapinto endured another tough weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Argentine was knocked out in Q1 in both qualifying sessions in Belgium.

This was in stark contrast to Pierre Gasly, who qualified in the top 10 and came away with a points finish in the grand prix.

Colapinto was promoted into a full-time seat at Alpine after Jack Doohan failed to impress.

However, Colapinto hasn’t proven to be an upgrade on his predecessor.

Colapinto was initially handed a five-race deal, but this weekend’s Hungarian GP will be his eighth weekend for the team.

Kravitz is adamant Colapinto is under pressure to keep his drive, as Alpine have other options such as Doohan or Valtteri Bottas.

“Franco Colapinto, not as lucky, in fact, he finished second-last to Isack Hadjar, who had a problem with his car,” Kravitz said in his post-race notebook.

“So, Colapinto was a two-stop, didn’t work out for him.

“Franco Colapinto, it would surprise no one in Formula 1 if Franco Colapinto wasn’t being challenged significantly for his seat now.

“Both by the original occupier, Jack Doohan and potentially by Valtteri Bottas.

“He was given another chance today, and he was 19th, so no points for him.

“At least he didn’t crash, but I feel desperately sorry for Franco Colapinto. I know he can be faster than that, but he’s just not got any confidence in the car at the moment.

“But see what happens in Hungary with that in a few days’ time on that front.”

Colpainto admits he’s struggling

Colapinto is the only driver on the grid yet to score a point this season.

He finished 19th at Spa, just ahead of Isack Hadjar, who was nursing a technical issue.

“The car is a bit difficult for me to drive at the moment,” Colapinto explained.

“It’s not very consistent. It’s fast, but it just didn’t give me the confidence I needed to push in the high-speed areas.

“It was a tough weekend. I think overall we made some progress, but it just felt like something wasn’t quite right.”