Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Franco Colapinto finished seventh in the Miami Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc’s 20-second penalty, giving the Alpine driver his best Formula 1 result and the strongest finish by an Argentine in the championship since Carlos Reutemann was second at the 1982 South African Grand Prix.
The result capped a weekend that looked like a turning point for both Colapinto and Alpine. The team arrived in Miami with a major A526 upgrade package that included a new lighter monocoque, revised floor edges, aerodynamic changes to the front and rear brake hardware and suspension wishbones, a Ferrari-style exhaust winglet and a new rear wing. Colapinto qualified eighth, finished 10th in the sprint, then started and initially finished eighth in the grand prix before Leclerc’s penalty moved him up another place.
Colapinto said the step forward was obvious from the moment the weekend began. “I think since I got to F1 it's been my most perfect weekend,” he said. “I am very happy with the weekend, it's been executed really well. I think we maximised every session and we scored strong points. It's been a weekend for all of us to be very proud of and we'll try to get better in Canada.”
He also made clear that the new parts had changed the feel of the car. Colapinto said he was grateful to the team for “the new bits, the upgrades, the new wings, the new chassis” because they helped him “find more pace” and settle in. He said Alpine had been competitive from practice despite his lack of experience at Miami, and praised the effort made at Enstone during the break to get the new parts ready.
The progress showed most clearly against Pierre Gasly. Colapinto outqualified his team-mate for both Miami races, even though he did not have the new rear wing, and this was the first time since the 2025 Singapore race that he beat Gasly in a grand prix classification. In the sprint he lost two places after backing out at Turn 2 when trapped on the outside of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, but in the main race he converted the pace into Alpine’s biggest result of the season so far.
It was not a clean race. Colapinto was caught up in first-lap contact with Hamilton after taking advantage of disorder ahead of them. Hamilton tried to pass around the outside into Turn 11, Colapinto’s rear stepped out mid-corner, and the cars touched. The stewards took no further action, ruling Hamilton was not far enough alongside to be entitled to racing room under the driver guidelines. Both cars carried damage to the finish, but Colapinto still held eighth on the road and inherited seventh when Leclerc was penalised for multiple overtakes beyond track limits on the final lap.
Alpine’s senior figures treated the performance as more than a one-off. Flavio Briatore, Alpine team boss, said Colapinto had “performed at the level we expect him to be at every race weekend,” adding that the car was competitive and that the team needed that standard from both drivers to meet its objectives.
Steve Nielsen, Alpine F1 general manager, linked part of the improvement to the chassis Colapinto used in Miami. He said the lighter chassis was a pure performance gain, explaining that early-season chassis are often heavier because of FIA homologation and crash-test demands. “Every kilo saved is pure performance,” Nielsen said, adding that Alpine has managed weight consistently well this season. He also suggested the break before Miami may have helped trigger a “psychological breakthrough” for Colapinto after a difficult start against Gasly.
That combination of a more comfortable driver and a quicker car matters beyond one result. Colapinto’s points helped Alpine reach 23 points in four races, already past the 22 it scored across the whole of 2025, and the Miami weekend gave the team evidence that its upgrades can pull it deeper into the upper midfield fight.