Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Franco Colapinto’s place at Alpine for 2027 is still not secure, with managing director Steve Nielsen making clear that the Argentine’s improved 2026 form has earned him credit but not a guarantee beyond next season.
Speaking at Silverstone, Steve Nielsen, Alpine managing director, said Colapinto’s future will be decided on merit rather than promise alone. “I think Franco is a driver that has been a slow starter, dare I say it,” Nielsen said. “He’s getting better. He’s produced some good runs this year already. Miami was good. China was good. He’s improving. So I think he’s there on merit and when the time comes, we’ll make the decisions.”
Nielsen then set out Alpine’s position in blunt terms. “If he’s good enough, he’ll stay, and if he’s not, then there’s a better option. That’s just Formula 1.”
The directness matters because Colapinto is delivering what has so far been his strongest spell in Formula 1. Alpine’s decision to retain him for 2026 after a difficult introduction late last year is beginning to look justified. Through the first nine races of the season, Colapinto has scored points five times, with sixth place at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal his best finish.
Just as important for Alpine, Nielsen said Colapinto is no longer simply trying to keep up. After spending much of 2025 trailing Pierre Gasly for race pace, he is now running much closer to his teammate and has, at times, matched or beaten him. Nielsen pointed in particular to races in Miami and China as examples of that progress.
That is a significant shift from the circumstances that surrounded Colapinto’s arrival. He joined Alpine for the final 18 races of 2025 after replacing Jack Doohan, but Nielsen said he struggled to adapt, made costly mistakes and often fell well short of Gasly’s level. Alpine’s car also offered little help, with Nielsen describing it as one of the weakest on the grid, which made judging Colapinto’s true level more difficult.
What has changed in 2026, according to Nielsen, is the consistency. He said Colapinto’s race execution is much better than it was and highlighted his improved ability to “hang on to Pierre” over a stint. For a team assessing whether a driver can contribute over a full campaign rather than flash speed in isolation, that is the kind of progress that carries weight.
Even so, Alpine is still treating Colapinto as a driver under evaluation rather than one who has fully secured his long-term place. The contrast inside the team is sharp. Gasly is described as a certainty at Alpine and has 42 points in the drivers’ standings, while Colapinto remains the driver who must keep proving that his recent gains are sustainable.
That leaves the rest of 2026 as a live audition. Colapinto has moved from struggling in an uncompetitive car to scoring regularly and taking the fight closer to Gasly, but Nielsen’s message is that improvement alone will not be enough unless it continues strongly enough to remove any doubt over Alpine’s 2027 lineup.