Franco Colapinto has joined Alpine as a test and reserve driver for the 2025 Formula One season after the team struck a deal to sign him from Williams.
The team has maintained that Jack Doohan, who it named as Esteban Ocon’s replacement for 2025 at the end of August, is its race driver for the start of the season.
But the arrival of Colapinto is set to give Alpine an alternative driver option to consider for the future after his emergence through last year with Williams, with whom he remained under contract going into 2025 despite not having a race seat.
Alpine said in a statement confirming Colapinto’s arrival that the move would be “further adding to the existing pool of talent the team can call upon for driving services throughout the season.”
In his role, Colapinto will support race drivers Doohan and Pierre Gasly at races this season, as well as taking part in its private testing program and simulator preparations.
Colapinto, 21, made a surprise F1 debut midway through the 2024 season after Williams promoted him from its young driver program to replace the struggling Logan Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix.
Colapinto became the first Argentine driver to race in F1 for 23 years, and quickly impressed Williams by scoring points in two of his first four races.
The performances led to interest from a number of other teams, including Red Bull and Alpine. Williams always said it would be open to a deal for Colapinto to leave under the correct terms as it had already completed its line-up with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz for this year.
A string of late-season crashes prompted some of the interest in Colapinto to cool, leaving him without a race seat for 2025, but Alpine always retained an interest in working with him in some capacity despite already signing Doohan to partner Gasly, who is on a long-term deal. Flavio Briatore, Alpine’s executive advisor, stated that a driver of Colapinto’s ability would always be of natural interest to the team.
Talks between Alpine and Williams over a deal resumed in the new year, paving the way for him to be announced as its 2025 reserve driver on Thursday.
“We are very pleased to come to an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto,” said Briatore. “Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now. It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula One grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver.
“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”
Colapinto paid tribute to Williams for its support during his time with the team, having risen through its academy before stepping up to a race seat, but that it was “time for a new chapter, and to take on this challenge with Alpine is truly an honor.”
Williams team principal James Vowles said “this agreement with Alpine represents Franco’s best chance of securing a race seat in 2025 or 2026.”
The deal for Colapinto is likely to lead to early scrutiny on Doohan — who made his F1 debut at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi after Ocon’s early exit from the team — as the Australian prepares for his first full season on the grid.
Doohan spent last year in a reserve role at Alpine after finishing third in F2 in 2023, and prepared for his move up to F1 with an extensive testing program. Alpine announced ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix that Doohan would race for the team in 2025 alongside Pierre Gasly.
Earlier on Thursday, Alpine announced that two-time World Endurance Championship winner Ryo Hirakawa had also joined the team for 2025 in a reserve and test role. Hirakawa tested for both McLaren and Haas last year, and will take part in FP1 for the Japanese Grand Prix in April.
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