It's official: Franco Colapinto will drive for Alpine at Imola GP

Argentina is about to be hit by another bout of Franco Colapinto fever.

After several months of rumours and unrest, Oliver Oakes has dynamited the BWT Alpine F1 Team and resigned his post, with Flavio Briatore emerging as the team’s new driving force.

Briatore, previously executive advisor, retains his role but – for now – is effectively serving as the French-British team’s new principal and director. 

It has swiftly been revealed that Briatore disagreed with every decision that Oakes had made – including his choice of the driver.

Now Briatore is putting things in order and a key decision has been made: he has put Argentina’s Franco Colapinto in the A525 cockpit.

Colapinto, 21, will race for BWT Alpine at the next Grand Prix – the famous Imola circuit in Italy on May 18.

The decision is “part of an ongoing assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship,” said Alpine.

Briatore communicated the decision to Jack Doohan, explaining he will stay for now as a reserve driver. Soon after, he shared the news publicly, delivering an explanation on the web as Alpine issued an official statement.

Colapinto – who will wear number #43 – also gave thanks to the team and all his fans across the world for their support. He says he's ready to drive at Imola.

The notice at 4am local time, early in the morning in Argentina. Immediately, the news was broadcast by almost every media group, television channel and newspaper. 

Colapinto, it has emerged, will drive the next five Grand Prix races: Italy, Monaco, Spain, Canada and Austria, up until the United Kingdom GP in July, when Briatore will make an assessment of his team’s line-up.

When will Colapinto drive?

– Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: May 16-18, 2025, at Imola.
– Monaco Grand Prix: May 23-25, 2025, at Monte Carlo.
– Spanish Grand Prix: May 30 - June 1, 2025, at Barcelona.
– Canadian Grand Prix: June 13-15, 2025, at Montreal.
– Austrian Grand Prix: June 27-29, 2025, at Spielberg.

What they said

Official statement:

“BWT Alpine Formula One Team announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July.

“Jack Doohan remains an integral part of the team and will be the first-choice reserve driver for this period of time.

“Franco, who was one of the team’s test and reserve drivers, will race with the number #43 on the A525 and will partner Pierre for the first time in Imola, ahead of three races in three weekends in Europe, which also covers the Monaco Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix, before two races in June for the Canadian Grand Prix and Austrian Grand Prix.”

Briatore's remarks:

“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races. With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.

“We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.

“We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”

Colapinto's reaction:

“Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races.

“I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone.

“I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”