Alpine has confirmed that Franco Colapinto will remain with the team for the 2027 Formula 1 season, completing its line-up for next year.Colapinto, 23, joined Alpine at the start of last year as a reserve driver before stepping into a race seat six races into the season as a replacement for Jack Doohan.Benefitting from his first full preseason and outings in the winter test sessions, Colapinto has recorded his best F1 results to date in 2026, scoring points in six out of 12 races, including a best finish of sixth at the Canadian Grand Prix in May.Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore has spoken highly of Colapinto this year, suggesting a couple of months ago there would be no reason to consider a change in driver line-up if Colapinto maintained his level of performance.The team announced on Thursday that Colapinto would be remaining in its F1 driver line-up for 2027, partnering Pierre Gasly, who signed a long-term deal with Alpine last autumn.
Continuing the journey ✍️@francolapinto completes our line-up for 2027 💙 pic.twitter.com/maHzQ0r2es
— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) August 27, 2026In a statement, Briatore spoke of the importance of consistency in the driver line-up for a team which is working to rebuild after slumping to the foot of the championship in 2025.Alpine has taken a step forward this year, aided by a switch to Mercedes engines, and currently sits sixth in the constructors’ championship.“We are now settled from a driver point of view and I have said many times that, while this is an important piece of the puzzle, the most significant we have get right is designing and building a fast race car, which absolutely remains our number one priority,” Briatore said.“We have seen Franco truly grow and mature into a great driver this year. His results in Miami and Montreal especially confirmed what I already knew: Franco belongs in Formula 1 and he belongs at this team.“I expect both Franco and Pierre to continue doing a fantastic job on the track and for the entire team to push relentlessly until we are fighting, and winning, at the front end of this sport.”Colapinto made his F1 debut for Williams in 2024 after replacing the struggling Logan Sargeant mid-season. Although there were flashes of pace, which even led to interest from Red Bull’s F1 program, he also got caught up in a handful of clashes toward the end of that year.Colapinto joined Alpine from Williams on loan at the start of 2025 in an initial reserve role before being promoted into the race seat starting at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.He failed to score any points through the remainder of the season with Alpine, but the team was eager to see him perform with a complete preseason program going into 2026.Speaking at last month’s Belgian GP, Colapinto explained that he felt both stronger as a driver and more mature following his 2025 struggles, and revealed that Briatore joked he had “left my brother in Argentina, and I brought (the real) him back this year. The bad brother was the one (from) last year. Now I’m driving better”.Colapinto has also been subject to huge levels of support in his native Argentina since joining the grid. Earlier this year, Alpine held a show run through the middle of Buenos Aires with Colapinto driving an old F1 car, claiming an estimated crowd of 600,000 people.
