Franco Colapinto handed 2026 Alpine boost, but ‘left over’ F1 driver could be his biggest rival

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Although most of the talk about the Formula 1 driver market has recently surrounded Red Bull Racing, there’s another team on the grid still weighing up one of their seats for 2026.

Alpine have had a torrid 2025 campaign and sit firmly at the bottom of the constructors’ championship.

Pierre Gasly has been responsible for all of the points Alpine have scored this season.

However, the Frenchman has only scored nine points since the Canadian Grand Prix, and Alpine have a 24-point deficit to ninth-place Haas if they’re going to avoid finishing bottom of the pile.

One of the reasons Alpine are in such an unfortunate situation is the performance of the drivers on the other side of the garage.

Jack Doohan was only given six races to prove his worth to Flavio Briatore, and after being taken out on the opening lap of the Miami Grand Prix, his spell in the car was over.

Franco Colapinto was brought in, having been signed on loan from Williams over the winter break, but after nine race weekends, he’s still waiting to score his first point.

There were signs of encouragement for Colapinto at Zandvoort, but the Argentinian is still waiting to discover if he’ll be offered a new contract for 2026.

Journalist Ben Anderson believes Colapinto’s chances of staying on the grid are increasing, but Alpine will be considering what Red Bull’s next move is before offering him a new deal.

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

Franco Colapinto’s 2026 Alpine chances could be scuppered by Red Bull’s next move

Anderson was asked on The Race F1 Podcast when he believes Colapinto is more likely to retain his Alpine seat for 2026 after Cadillac confirmed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, and he explained: “I think he will. That’s my instinct.

“They might wait to see which of the Red Bull drivers is left over, just because Briatore’s been talking about needing a more experienced reference in the car, and they flirted with this idea of signing Valtteri Bottas and he’s now saying, well, we were just used as a handy bargaining chip for Bottas to get his Cadillac contract over the line.

“But if they’re doing their diligence, which you can’t be sure of because of that team being so chaotic, you’ve got to see who’s available.

“I feel like there’s going to be an ex-Red Bull driver available. And a Tsunoda-Gasly partnership would work quite well. They worked quite well before, at AlphaTauri.

“So, I think you’d look at that and then go, do we want that or not? What’s the commercial reality behind that?

“I feel like Colapinto is starting to crack on a bit and settle down. I think he was quite unlucky not to get points in Zandvoort. He was there with Gasly, which is what you want, rather than way off, which was the case in the early races he did.

“But also, he’s got that South American backing behind him. I think as long as that’s there and the cheques are being cashed or whatever the digital equivalent is nowadays, that strengthens his position within that team because it’s clear that they’re trying to save money.

“You wouldn’t ditch a whole engine program if you weren’t and go to a cheaper customer option.

“So, I think as long as he’s not tanking in performance terms over the rest of the season, that improvement plus the cash behind him will secure his seat for next year, probably.”

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

Who is going to be Red Bull’s ‘left over’ driver at the end of the 2025 Formula 1 season?

Colapinto will be closely watching what Red Bull do over the coming weeks, with a decision on their drivers expected by the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen is locked in for another season, but everything hinges on whether Yuki Tsunoda is replaced by Isack Hadjar, or if Liam Lawson loses his Racing Bulls seat to F2 star Arvid Lindblad.

Tsunoda hasn’t had the impact at Red Bull that his bosses would have liked, leaving Hadjar as the frontrunner to earn a promotion ahead of 2026.

It then comes down to whether Tsunoda returns to Racing Bulls or if Lawson ends up being paired with Lindblad.

Lawson’s management have one eye on Alpine and are pushing Red Bull to make a quick decision on his future to avoid missing out to Colapinto.

Meanwhile, Paul Aron and Doohan are still waiting in the wings, hoping to replace Colapinto if his performances don’t improve soon.