Red Bull suffer blow in Franco Colapinto chase as key Alpine bargaining chip emerges – report

Alpine could be set to move ahead of Red Bull in the race to sign Franco Colapinto for the F1 2025 season, it has been claimed, with the Enstone-based team more open to a loan deal from Williams.

It comes after reports that Williams will not settle for less than €20million to release the Argentine sensation from his contract.

Alpine ahead of Red Bull in the race to sign Franco Colapinto?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Colapinto has impressed since replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, scoring points in just his second F1 appearance at the challenging Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan.

The 21-year-old followed that up with an impressive 10th-place finish at last month’s United States Grand Prix, with Colapinto winning many admirers since his unexpected debut.

With Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon already signed to race for the team in F1 2025, Williams team principal James Vowles has signalled a willingness to allow Colapinto to pursue opportunities with other teams for next season in order to advance his career.

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Rumours of a move to Red Bull intensified at last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix after Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, was spotted leaving Williams’ hospitality unit ahead of the first practice session at Interlagos.

PlanetF1.com revealed that Horner’s visit was directly related to Red Bull’s interest in Colapinto, with negotiations understood to be underway but a deal far from completion.

It is unclear whether Red Bull plan to place Colapinto at junior team VCARB if negotiations prove successful, with some suggestions that he could even step up to replace Sergio Perez as three-time World Champion Max Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull Racing as soon as F1 2025.

Despite signing a new two-year contract in June, Perez is increasingly likely to be dropped by Red Bull at the end of F1 2024 following a disastrous season, with the Mexican trailing Verstappen by 242 points with three races remaining.

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko recently confirmed that a decision on Perez’s future will be made following the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next month.

The saga over Colapinto’s future took another twist on Friday when reports in Italy claimed that Alpine are reconsidering their F1 2025 driver lineup of Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan, with executive adviser Flavio Briatore making it his mission to land Colapinto.

A deal for Colapinto would likely see Doohan replaced before his debut despite being confirmed as Esteban Ocon’s replacement for next season on August 23, four days before Colapinto was promoted to a Williams seat.

And a report by the Times has claimed that Alpine could now be in pole position to secure Colapinto’s signature, with the team “understood to be more open to the idea of a loan deal” than Red Bull.

It adds that “at least one other unnamed team have also inquired about Colapinto” as interest in the youngster grows.

Speaking to Austrian publication Kleine Zeitung at the recent Mexican GP, Marko described Colapinto’s long-term deal with Williams as a “problem” to Red Bull’s hopes of signing the 21-year-old.

And he appeared to rule out the possibility of a loan, adding: “That’s not interesting for any team. You don’t want to train a driver for another team.”

Horner dropped the biggest hint yet that Red Bull are interested in signing Colapinto in Brazil last weekend, likening his impact at Williams to that of fellow young guns Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman at VCARB and Haas respectively.

Asked about a potential move for Colapinto after the sprint race at Interlagos, he told Sky F1: “I think it’s great to see these juniors doing a great job.

“We’ve got Liam Lawson obviously in the VCARB doing a really good job. Oliver Bearman should get a shoutout today because he was impressive.

“I think Franco, again, is a kid that’s doing really, really well.

“Of course, you’re always keeping an eye on the driver market and I think Franco definitely has got the qualities to be a potential star of the future.”

Horner’s comments came after Vowles indicated that Colapinto’s future is likely to be decided before the end of the season, emphasising Williams’ desire to “protect” the youngster as well as “all parties” involved.

Appearing in the team principals’ press conference in Sao Paulo, he said: “The best I can really tell you is we’re actively working with teams that are interested to try and find the right arrangement that helps Franco, that protects Franco as well and protects all parties.

“So it’s very much in those lines. It’s the same concept behind it.

“It’s never straightforward between Formula 1 teams, because you’re fighting on track and you’re trying to find a solution for the career of a young man, but he’s earning his place.

“He needs to do more on track to keep earning his place as a result of things, but he’s shining and that’s why there’s interest from teams and our responsibility in that, as I have a responsibility both towards him and Williams, and hopefully, we’ll have some great news to be able to talk to everyone about. But today, that isn’t available.

“These sorts of things are always hard to do because you’re talking about multiple teams talking together.

“But it’ll be something that I’m confident before the last race of the season we’ll have nailed.

“But it’s really hard for me to pinpoint where in between those two timelines.”

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