Breaking News: F1 2026 grid takes shape with huge driver announcement

Michelle Foster 07 Nov 2025 1:45 PM

Franco Colapinto is set to continue with Alpine into the 2026 season.

After months of speculation, Franco Colapinto has been confirmed as Pierre Gasly’s F1 2026 teammate, putting an end to rumours that the Argentine driver could be dropped after failing to score a point in 13 races.

The announcement leaves Red Bull and its sister team Racing Bulls as the only two outfits on the grid yet to confirm their drivers for next year’s championship.

Franco Colapinto will continue with Alpine next season

Colapinto joined Alpine in a reserve role ahead of the F1 2025 season following an impressive nine-race cameo with the Williams team where he replaced Logan Sargeant for the second part of the 2024 season.

This year he was once again a replacement, called up after Jack Doohan failed to score a point in his six races for Alpine, and made his debut for the team at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May.

However, his time with the team began with a crash in qualifying as he binned his A525 at the beginning of Q2 at Imola, breaking the first of Briatore’s three rules to retain the seat.

“He needs to be fast, not crash, and score points,” he told Sky Italia ahead of Colapinto’s Alpine debut. “I’m only asking him these three things — not 10. If he does them well, he’ll drive forever.”

Despite that, and his failure to score points in his 13 starts with the Enstone team, Briatore confirmed in September that the team was not considering options outside of its driver pool, the decision coming down to a straight fight between Colapinto and Paul Aron.

Franco Colapinto v Pierre Gasly: Alpine 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Colapinto brushed aside questions about his future as recently as Thursday’s media day ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“Well, I’m trying not to speak much because I want to focus on this year,” he told the media at the Interlagos circuit.

“We are not in a good position at the moment. We are not performing as we want and as we would expect at this point of the year. So it’s tricky for us a team to be motivated and to stay strong together, but we are at the moment.

“That’s what I take from us, everyone here in the track, how much they are pushing, how motivated they are saying when we are struggling, that much. So that’s, for me, the biggest part of this team.

“And I think the future doesn’t really, you know, I don’t really look at it too much. I want to stay fully focused on this season, I’m trying to finish better.”

He added: “I’m going race by race and I’m trying to focus on this weekend.”

24 hours later, Alpine confirmed the Argentine driver would continue as Gasly’s teammate for the F1 2026 season.

“I am very grateful to Flavio and the entire team for their believe in me to help drive the team forwards in the future,” Colapinto said in the Alpine statement.

“Ever since I made my Formula 1 debut, I knew, given the circumstances in play, it would be a huge challenge to keep my place in the sport. It has been a long and tough road, and I am very proud for the opportunity to drive with this team again in 2026, alongside Pierre, who has been a great teammate and will undoubtedly be someone I can continue to learn from.

“Finally, it is very special and timely to make this announcement here in Brazil this weekend. Being so close to my home country of Argentina and an event that feels like a home race for me where I have so much support.

“To have so many fans on this journey with me and the team is why we go racing and next year, when there should be a reset in Formula One, we can hopefully given every single person who cheers for us something to truly smile and celebrate. Vamos Alpine!”