Franco Colapinto simply cannot fail one objective at the Austrian Grand Prix if he wants to keep Alpine seat

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Franco Colapinto is preparing for what might be his final race for Alpine, with the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix the end of the Argentine’s five-round deal to replace Jack Doohan.

Changes were afoot in Enstone this May as Flavio Briatore, the executive adviser to the now-former Group Renault CEO Luca de Meo, decided enough was enough after Doohan failed to score a point. Yet Alpine only confirmed Colapinto on a five-round deal that started at Imola.

Alpine made it clear as soon as Colapinto was announced to be stepping up from his reserve driver role that Briatore would review their line-up again after the Austrian GP. Briatore sees the 2025 F1 season as a chance to test more drivers before finalising Alpine’s 2026 line-up.

Pierre Gasly could, therefore, have a fourth teammate in just seven months if Briatore drops Colapinto and puts a new star in the car. The 22-year-old has known since he came in that he had to shine with Colapinto always aware that Briatore could replace him with Paul Aron.

Franco Colapinto cannot suffer a Q1 exit at the Austrian GP if he wants to stay at Alpine

Alpine paid Williams £8.5m to sign Colapinto on a five-year loan deal this January, with their target being him taking over a race seat most likely in 2026. But the Buenos Aires native got a chance to replace Doohan much sooner than expected; however, he is yet to score a point.

Colapinto has so far achieved P16 in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, P13 in the Monaco GP, P15 in the Spanish GP and P13 in the Canadian GP. Now, he will head to the Austrian GP for a decisive round, with Colapinto fully aware he might be dropped before the British Grand Prix.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine 2025 F1 driver Franco Colapinto? Everything you need to know

But scoring his first point(s) with Alpine at the Red Bull Ring is not the only target Colapinto must meet to avoid the axe. Briatore will no doubt also demand that the Argentine reaches Q2, given Alpine have not suffered a Q1 exit at the Austrian GP since Esteban Ocon in 2021.

Alpine have also seen both of their cars reach Q3 at the Austrian GP in 2022 and 2024 since Ocon and Fernando Alonso’s difficult time in 2021. Gasly reached Q3 in 2023, as well, while scoring P9 on the grid behind Ocon in P8 in 2024 after posting slower laps in Q3 than in Q2.

So, Briatore will now expect Colapinto to at least make Q2 at the 2025 Austrian GP after the Argentine set his best qualifying with Alpine yet last time out at the Canadian GP. After only managing P16 at Imola, P20 in Monaco and P19 in Spain, Colapinto qualified P12 in Canada.

Franco Colapinto produced his best qualifying result for Alpine last time out in Canada

Colapinto crashed in qualifying on his debut for Alpine at Imola, having set a time during Q1 that carried him into Q2. But he did not return to Q2 until the Canadian GP, where Colapinto even out-qualified Gasly for the first time since the Argentine replaced Doohan in the A525.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine’s F1 executive adviser Flavio Briatore? Everything to know

A driveline issue saw Colapinto exit qualifying in Q1 in Spain, but the 22-year-old was 0.319s slower than Gasly during Q1 at Imola and 0.603s during Q1 in Monaco. His lack of form even led Briatore to say he was ‘not happy at all’ with Colapinto’s results since replacing Doohan.

So, if Colapinto were to now post Alpine’s first Q1 exit at the Austrian GP since 2021 straight off the back of his best qualifying result so far this term in Canada, he would need a massive result in Sunday’s race to convince Briatore he should stay on for the British GP and beyond.