Forget Franco Colapinto, F1 driver who’s been lapped nine times should be fighting for his career

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Franco Colapinto has faced almost unrelenting questions about his Formula 1 future in 2025. But all the while, another underperforming driver is escaping scrutiny.

Colapinto isn’t the only driver whose place on the grid is at risk – Liam Lawson could lose his Racing Bulls seat, while former teammate Yuki Tsunoda may have to join Aston Martin as a reserve driver if he wants to stay in the paddock.

But the difference with the Argentine was the immediacy of the threat. Alpine have just confirmed that Colapinto will complete 2025, and even that wasn’t a public announcement.

It’s true that the 21-year-old hasn’t scored a point and is only above Jack Doohan, the driver he replaced, in the standings, but he’s now pulled level with Pierre Gasly in the qualifying head-to-head after outpacing him at successive races.

His biggest problem is that the Alpine car is the slowest on the grid, but he’s getting closer to a proven benchmark in Gasly.

Nico Hulkenberg’s alarming form at Sauber is going under the radar

Nico Hulkenberg currently sits 10th in the drivers’ championship, which in itself would be an outstanding outcome for Sauber. He scored 15 of his 37 points at the British Grand Prix when he ended a record-breaking podium drought.

That will remain the defining moment of the season for Hulkenberg, and rightly so. But it disguises a worrying trend in the German’s form.

Since then, he’s failed to score in six consecutive Grands Prix, as well as the Belgium Sprint. In the same period, rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto has scored 14 points on three separate occasions.

The biggest worry is qualifying. Hulkenberg was outstanding on a Saturday last year, making 11 Q3 appearances for a Haas team who only finished seventh in the standings.

But prior to the Singapore GP, Hulkenberg had been slower than Bortoleto in eight consecutive qualifying sessions. Even after ending that run at Marina Bay, a spin in the race saw him finish last, and he was lapped for the ninth time this season.

All of this suggests a changing of the guard is taking place at Sauber. Hulkenberg, the third-oldest driver on the grid at 38, is starting to be outclassed by the newcomer on the opposite side of the garage.

When does Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber contract expire?

Coming into the year, Bortoleto was warned that Hulkenberg could end his career. If he lost convincingly to the German driver, the hype around the F2 champion would dissipate.

But Bortoleto now leads the overall head-to-head 21-15, and it looks like that gap will only widen before the end of the season. Hulkenberg will, at this rate, be heading into the new Audi era as the de facto number two driver, an outcome few expected.

Hulkenberg’s contract runs until the end of 2027, which may offer him some security. But if this extended slump continues into next year, Audi will have to seriously consider whether it’s wise to continue.