Flavio Briatore may finally have chosen Pierre Gasly’s 2026 teammate as Alpine ‘announcement’ planned

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Alpine have a seat to fill for the 2026 Formula 1 season as Pierre Gasly awaits to find out who his teammate will be next season.

The Enstone outfit have had a disastrous 2025 campaign, with Gasly scoring all 20 of the team’s points thus far. The A525 is a desperately underperforming car, but the Frenchman has still produced some strong races, unlike his two teammates.

Jack Doohan was dropped after six races due to rookie errors and failing to score a point during that time. Flavio Briatore brought in Franco Colapinto to replace him from Imola onwards, and he has struggled equally in the car.

The Argentine has failed to score points in 2025, leading to speculation about his future with Alpine. Briatore has scoped the F1 driver market for potential options, including the likes of Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

After those options became unrealistic, the team had to settle for their own pool of drivers. Briatore revealed that Colapinto or Paul Aron would get the seat in 2026, with Doohan likely out of the running; the boss may have now made his decision.

Flavio Briatore may have chosen Franco Colapinto as Pierre Gasly’s 2026 teammate with Alpine ‘announcement’

According to journalist Leonardo Regueira, Alpine have an ‘announcement’ planned with F1 for the signing of Colapinto. The Argentine has supposedly won the race over Aron to keep his seat at the Enstone outfit next to Gasly.

Regueira stressed that Colapinto has media and sponsorship duties with Alpine on Wednesday ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix. He states that, while said announcement may not happen, there is a ‘feeling’ that the 22-year-old will be confirmed for 2026.

He said via Carburando: “On the one hand, Formula 1 has a request for a date for announcement. That is what is asked for. If you want to advertise, make an announcement, you have to ask Formula 1, and Formula 1 will put you on the agenda.

“It’s done for tomorrow. Formula 1 has an announcement on its agenda for tomorrow. One thing, on the other hand, Franco has a busy day tomorrow, he has an event with Alpine and an afternoon, Mercado Libre event in Mexico.

“Some say it could be a day of announcements. I’m not going to say that Colapinto’s future will be announced tomorrow, but there’s a feeling that it could be an important Wednesday.”

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

Franco Colapinto is in hot water over ignoring Alpine’s team orders at COTA

Colapinto’s 2025 campaign has been nothing short of a disaster, with multiple crashes and a general lack of pace hampering him. The Alpine machinery is not competitive, in his defence, but there is the argument that Doohan fared better in his six races this year.

Gasly has dominated the Argentine in 2025, but he is starting to close the gap, having beaten him in the past two races. Colapinto caused controversy at COTA after he ignored team orders to overtake his teammate for P17.

Alpine staff were unhappy with Colapinto as they reacted to the incident in the paddock. He was instructed to stay behind Gasly, but the 22-year-old overtook him anyway after complaining about his lack of pace.

Colapinto was told Briatore would not appreciate his actions at COTA. The pressure will certainly be on the Argentine to perform in 2026 if he has indeed secured his future with the team.