What Franco Colapinto must do to earn Alpine F1 2026 stay
Franco Colapinto is fighting for his F1 future with Alpine.
Franco Colapinto says he needs to keep improving if he is to retain his Alpine seat for the 2026 F1 season.
The 22-year-old Argentine is fighting for his future at Alpine after a rocky campaign since replacing the struggling Jack Doohan at Imola.
Colapinto has not yet scored a point this year and is under pressure to keep his place at the French manufacturer alongside Pierre Gasly, who is signed up until 2028.
The former Williams super-sub has six races left to convince Alpine he deserves to get another season, with reserve driver Paul Aron understood to be Colapinto’s main rival.
Asked ahead of the United States Grand Prix what he has been told he needs to do in order to keep his seat for next season, Colapinto replied: “Nothing, just I think keep doing what I'm doing.
“I'm working very well with the team, so very happy about that. Looking at these last five rounds, we really struggled for pace and to see that we are not giving up.
“Everyone in the team is staying motivated - the engineers, the mechanics - they keep pushing us as if we were scoring points, but we are not at the moment. But it's good to see the motivation that they all have to keep pushing, keep finding more performance out of the car.
“I think it's something that we are all doing, and something that, when the car is good next year, it will be very important to have. So I think it's a good preparation for when our moment comes.
“The moment is not there yet, but I trust that the car next year will be quick.”
What’s changed for Franco Colapinto?
Alpine’s poor competitiveness has not helped Colapinto’s situation, though he has managed to improve his performances of late.
Explaining his recent uptick in form, Colapinto said: “I found just a bit more consistency in the car.
“It’s been tricky to drive for me - just really struggling to find the consistency of the car, from track to track, session to session, it was starting to be really unpredictable.
"I'm just starting to find my feet in the last few races after the summer break. Just before, I could start to feel that the pace was improving. I think we are working really well with my engineers.
“We also know that the car - we need to find more pace out of the package that we've got. It's not at the moment where want or where we expect to be at this point of the year.
“So we are trying to work hard, trying to understand our issues, trying to come to the races that we know are a bit more beneficial for our car - trying to be spot on with the set-up and trying to be ready from P1, where we think is best.
"We are struggling to kind of bring that pace from track to track. On my side, of course, learning and understanding the car better session after session. It's been tough.
“Clearly an improvement though. That’s why the races have been positive on the personal side. But, of course, not happy with the results as a team at the moment.”
In this article
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
