Williams has agreed terms with Alpine for Franco Colapinto to join the French F1 team as its test and reserve driver in a multi-year deal.
After Alpine announced the hiring of Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa in test and reserve role, the French outfit has expanded their capacity by signing Colapinto in a similar role from 2025 F1 season onward in a multi-year deal. They reached an agreement with Williams Racing to acquire his services.
The Argentinean media reported about a potential deal between Colapinto and Alpine on Wednesday. In fact, reports of a deal floated in the paddock towards the end of the 2024 F1 season as well, with a view that Jack Doohan will have to prove his worth to see-through the whole year.
It remains unclear if Colapinto’s hiring will have any bearing on Doohan, who is slated to start his full season with Alpine in 2025. For now, the Argentinean will serve as a test and reserve driver and will undertake runs under the TPC programme alongside Aron and Hirakawa.
“I am super excited to have the opportunity to join BWT Alpine Formula One Team,” said Colapinto. “First of all, I want to say thank you to Williams for all their support from the moment I joined the Academy until the last race in Abu Dhabi. They turned my dream of racing in Formula One into reality, and I will always be grateful for that.
“Now, it is time for a new chapter, and to take on this challenge with BWT Alpine Formula One Team is truly an honour. A huge thank you to Luca [de Meo], Flavio [Briatore] and Oliver [Oakes] for believing in me and welcoming me into the team with open arms. I cannot wait to get started and see where this journey takes us.
“Also, a massive thank you to all my sponsors and partners who stood by me through the challenges of the 2024 season. Your support made it all possible, and to my incredible fans in Argentina: ‘Muchas gracias!’ Your passion and encouragement mean the world to me. Let’s aim for even greater things in 2025 and beyond.”
At the same time, Flavio Briatore, said “We are very pleased to come to an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto. 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.”
And James Vowles added: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Alpine for Franco to join the team on a multi-year arrangement starting in 2025. Over nine memorable races with Williams he clearly showed he is deserving of a place in Formula 1 and we always said we would support him to get one. Williams has one of the most formidable driver line-ups on the grid for 2025 and beyond in Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, so we believe this agreement with Alpine represents Franco’s best chance of securing a race seat in 2025 or 2026.
“The Williams Racing Driver Academy exists to discover and develop the F1 stars of the future which is exactly what it has done in Franco’s case, and builds on our long tradition of giving talented young drivers their break at the top level of motorsport. We are proud to have returned Argentina to the F1 grid, want to thank Franco for everything he has brought to the team and look forward to future battles on track.”
Here’s Alpine securing Ryo Hirakawa
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Here’s Pierre Gasly on best moment
Here’s Oliver Oakes on Jack Doohan and his prep
Here’s Pierre Gasly on Alpine getting him excited again
Here’s Jack Doohan identifying 2025 learning parts
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