Alpine F1 enter agreement with Williams Racing for Franco Colapinto

Alpine F1 enter agreement with Williams Racing for Franco Colapinto

9th January 2025 0 By Kamron Kent

Alpine F1 Team confirmed they have ‘entered into an agreement’ with Williams Racing to take on Franco Colapinto on a multi-year deal, as another Test and Reserve driver.

Feature image credit: Alpine F1

Following Alpine’s announcement that they have secured Ryo Hirakawa as a Test and Reserve driver, the Enstone-based team has now confirmed Colapinto will be part of their pool of drivers for the upcoming season.

The team have confirmed the Argentine will be part of their driver pool and will be in attendance at select grand prix through the year after entering an agreement with Williams Racing. 

The 21-year-old Argentinian driver continues to expand Alpine’s test and reserve driver pool and will join the likes of Hirakawa and Paul Aron in the same role. The Argentine will share driving duties with the two drivers previously stated in the teams Testing of Previous Cars programme (TPC). 

In the announcement, Colapinto said: 

“I am super excited to have the opportunity to join BWT Alpine Formula One Team. First of all, I want to say thank you to Williams for all their support from the moment I joined the Academy until the last race in Abu Dhabi. 

“They turned my dream of racing in Formula One into reality, and I will always be grateful for that. Now, it is time for a new chapter, and to take on this challenge with BWT Alpine Formula One Team is truly an honour. 

“A huge thank you to Luca [de Meo], Flavio [Briatore] and Oliver [Oakes] for believing in me and welcoming me into the team with open arms. I cannot wait to get started and see where this journey takes us. Also, a massive thank you to all my sponsors and partners who stood by me through the challenges of the 2024 season. 

“Your support made it all possible, and to my incredible fans in Argentina: ‘Muchas gracias!’ Your passion and encouragement mean the world to me. Let’s aim for even greater things in 2025 and beyond.”

Colpainto will jump into the driver pool as an experienced driver, in terms of Formula 1 machinery, after he was given nearly half a season at Williams in 2024. 

The Argentinian was catapulted into the Williams car last season after the Wantage-based team axed ill-performing Logan Sargeant from their driver line-up after the Dutch Grand Prix. Colapinto impressed early on with two points finishes in his first four of nine race starts with the team, in Azerbaijan and the United States.  

Despite late incidents as his stint progressed, more notably at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Colapinto was linked with race seats for the upcoming 2025 world championship but none came to fruition. 

“We are very pleased to come to an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto,” commented Alpine’s Executive Advisor, Flavio Briatore. “Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now.

“It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula One grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver. 

“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”

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CategoryFormula 1 Formula Series News
TagsAlpine F1 Alpine F1 Team F1 Formula 1 Franco Colapinto

About the author

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

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