Alpine now have a key advantage over Red Bull in the race to sign Franco Colapinto for 2025

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A young driver rarely makes as much of an impact as Franco Colapinto has during his first six Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Williams took what they saw as a calculated risk of promoting Colapinto into Logan Sargeant’s seat as they didn’t believe that the American was extracting the full potential of the car.

He was also causing plenty of expensive damage and his crash during practice at Zandvoort was the last straw.

Colapinto has gone on to score points twice in F1 and in the five races that he’s finished, he’s always been in the top 12.

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix was Colapinto’s toughest challenge and while he struggled in wet conditions, that was to be expected for a driver who had never raced in the rain in Formula 1.

Colapinto is now attracting interest from other teams in the grid with Williams not having a race set for the 21-year-old for next season after signing Carlos Sainz to race alongside Alex Albon.

Red Bull and Alpine are two teams with a serious interest in Colapinto, however, a report from AutoHebdo has shared why the French manufacturer might have the upper hand in negotiations.

Why Alpine have an advantage over Red Bull in trying to sign Franco Colapinto from Williams

Red Bull are keen on Colapinto as they have doubts over the future of Mexican driver Sergio Perez.

Perez hasn’t lived up to expectations and while Red Bull could call on either RB driver to replace him, Colapinto offers an interesting alternative to team principal Christian Horner.

Alpine are also chasing Colapinto but this is more peculiar given they have already confirmed both of their drivers for 2025.

The French team have retained Pierre Gasly, while Jack Doohan will make his F1 debut in 2025.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

The report from AutoHebdo suggests that Red Bull already have a head start over Alpine in trying to sign Colapinto.

Horner was seen entering the Williams motorhome in Sao Paulo, although which driver he was discussing is up for debate.

Red Bull like the amount of sponsorship Colapinto would bring which would be a serious consideration when dropping Perez.

However, Red Bull would have to buy out Colapinto’s expensive contract to run him at either of their teams next year.

This is where AutoHebdo believe Alpine have an advantage over Red Bull as they would ‘not be against’ signing the 21-year-old on loan.

This is a more acceptable solution for Williams as they would like to hang onto Colapinto for the future given his potential.

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko disagree over Franco Colapinto

All Colapinto can do is try and secure the best results possible for Williams between now and the end of the season to convince another team on the grid that he’s worth handing a race seat to next year.

Doohan appears to be under pressure at Alpine already, and it would be incredibly harsh to drop a driver before he’s even made his F1 debut.

Red Bull’s power structure means that while Horner will ultimately decide who drives for his team – and indirectly RB – Helmut Marko’s opinion is also very important.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Williams driver Franco Colapinto with praise to stats

Horner and Marko disagree on the best team for Colapinto if they sign him, while Marko is likely to want to continue promoting drivers from within Red Bull’s academy.

Marko has been very complimentary about Colapinto this season and if they can find a way to break his expensive Williams contract then it would be a very favourable move for all parties.

But, if Alpine really want the Argentinian, agreeing a loan deal would be cheaper and more straightforward, but they would have to act quickly.