Alpine has retained Franco Colapinto for the 2027 Formula 1 season, signing a new deal with the Argentinian for a second full-time campaign.
The 23-year-old will remain alongside Alpine’s lead driver Pierre Gasly, who has been Colapinto’s team-mate since he joined the French marque for round seven of 2025.
Colapinto faced a big 2026 season as he aimed to impress team executive Flavio Briatore after an up-and-down 2025 campaign.
But he rose to the challenge with more consistent performances aboard Alpine's vastly improved car, which allowed him to add 19 points to Gasly's tally of 44.
Colapinto took his career-best result in Montreal, where he finished sixth, and currently holds 12th in the drivers' standings after 12 rounds of this year.
“I am very pleased to remain with this team in 2027,” he said. “I feel very happy and very settled here and it’s been even better that we have made significant progress this year compared to last. We have a lot more milestones to reach and I know the team is working so hard in finding performance and making the car better and better.
“Our long-term goals are obvious – to compete and win - and I am grateful to the team, Flavio [Briatore] and Steve [Nielsen], for the trust placed in me to be one of its drivers going into the future. I’m looking forward to seeing how everything plays out and focusing on my job on-track first and foremost.”
Following a nine-race debut stint with Williams in 2024, replacing Logan Sargeant, Colapinto was brought onboard by Alpine for 2025 as part of a suite of reserve drivers behind Gasly and rookie Jack Doohan.
But Doohan was jettisoned after the Miami Grand Prix in favour of Colapinto, who initially struggled to perform much better than the Australian as Alpine slid towards the rear of the field.
Yet his promising underlying pace and generous backing from Argentinian sponsors helped keep Colapinto in the seat for 2026.
“We are very happy to confirm our driver line-up for 2027 with Franco staying as a race driver alongside Pierre,” Briatore said. “For me, having consistency is very important. We are now settled from a driver point of view and I have said many times that, while this is an important piece of the puzzle, the most significant we have to get right is designing and building a fast race car which absolutely remains our number one priority.
“We have seen Franco truly grow and mature into a great driver this year. His results in Miami and Montréal especially confirmed what I already knew: Franco belongs in Formula 1 and he belongs at this team. I expect both Franco, and Pierre, to continue doing a fantastic job on track and for the entire team to push relentlessly until we are fighting, and winning, at the front end of this sport.”
