Franco Colapinto ‘under the most pressure’ heading into 2026 season with Alpine future under threat

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Alpine driver Franco Colapinto will be glad he’s finally had a full Formula 1 pre-season under his belt going into the opening race of the campaign.

After being parachuted in to replace Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan at Williams and Alpine, respectively, Franco Colapinto is now preparing for his first season opener in his F1 career.

Alpine were the weakest team in the paddock last season, with Colapinto failing to score a point in his 18 Grand Prix weekends.

Which driver will be the biggest disappointment of 2026, other than the Aston Martin duo?

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However, Alpine have come up with some interesting innovations this season, and could be competing with Haas, Racing Bulls and Williams to be at the top of the midfield in 2026.

This puts a different level of pressure on Colapinto heading into 2026, and journalist Nate Saunders has suggested that a slow start for the Argentinian could lead to Flavio Briatore making yet another change to his driver line-up.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Franco Colapinto from F1 stats to height

Franco Colapinto ‘under the most pressure’ to save his F1 seat during the 2026 season

Speaking on The Ringer Podcast, Saunders was discussing the 22-year-old driver.

Colapinto was chosen ahead of Paul Aron and Doohan to retain his seat in 2026 despite failing to record a top 10 finish last season.

Reflecting on his status on the grid, Saunders said: “To be fair to Colapinto and to Jack Doohan as well, who I think really got the wrong end of the stick last year.

“That Alpine, when they were trying to drive it, Gasly was just… it was a bit like Fernando Alonso with all of his teammates.

Is Franco Colapinto the most under pressure driver to save his race seat in 2026?

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“It’s like, well, I’ve got to go against this guy, and I’m struggling. So yeah, it’d be interesting.

“But I think Colapinto is under the most pressure. If he starts off badly. I’m not sure if he stays in that seat.”

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

Franco Colapinto praises Alpine’s mileage heading into the 2026 F1 season

Alpine were one of the more impressive teams during pre-season testing, completing more than 5000km in Bahrain.

Gasly set the eighth-fastest time during the second week of testing, with Colapinto 11th in the standings, although fans can’t read too much into those results at this stage.

There’s also the added caveat that Alpine were very impressive in Bahrain during testing last year, only to discover that the circuit suited their car better than any other on the calendar.

Colapinto’s fans are some of the most passionate of any on the grid, and he’ll hope that this season gives them a lot more to cheer about compared to last year.

“It’s very helpful to get to the first race with all this mileage,” said Colapinto in his official post-test debrief.

“I think it’s like doing eight races in terms of mileage. That’s something I’ve been missing last year and the year before, so it helps a lot.

“We are still learning a lot about the car and the engine. The power unit is very different to last year.

“It’s early to say where we are, but at the moment it’s going well. The progress is very steep.

“From one day to another, things change, and the car is getting quicker and feeling better. We’re definitely improving and looking forward to Melbourne.”