Franco Colapint arrives in Singapore at the start of the key month for his future

Flavio Briatore warned that at the end of October the name of Pierre Gasly’s partner will be announced by 2026. The Argentine appears with good chances, but will depend on his performance. In Marina Bay it will have a great challenge.

Welcome to the Singapore oven. High humidity and extreme heat generates extreme conditions for Formula 1 pilots in Marina Bay’s street, where this weekend the 18th date will be played. The pilots touch the exhaustion at the end of the race, in which they suffer 60 degrees of temperature inside the car and lose about three kilos of sweat. Not even the fact of running at night the meteorological effects. There will come Franco Colapint with his Alpine at the beginning of October, a key month for his future in the category.

The expectations for the Estone team are few. Last in the Builder Championship, he barely reaped 20 points on the 17 disputed dates, accumulates four consecutive without scoring and the performance of the A525 is far from being competitive. Alpine decided to put 100% of his effort in the 2026 car, a season that will arrive with new technical regulations (cars and engines will be changed), but in the Interín, they suffered the tortuous road of a 2025 remote, by far, of the first planes.

Colapinto is the only current grid pilot who has no units. As an incentive, in the last four races he showed good rhythm and was close to the experienced Gasly. In fact, it came to overcome it, both in competition and classification rhythm. The coup in Azerbaijan Q1 was the macula in the middle of its raised, but the performance shown from the Hungary GP were good credentials to pretend continuity as headline in the next tournament. The destruction of the A525 was not good during the Pirelli tests in Hungary, a couple of days after the Hungaroring career, but its performance was promising, always understanding the weak context of Alpine.

Flavio Briatore, Mandamás of the French team, has already warned that at the end of October the announcement will be made and that there are two candidates for the second armchair 2026: Colapinto and Paul Aron, the pilot reserves. The compulsa seems uneven for both. One, because it must demonstrate in a car that has no level. And the Estonian, he has to do it without getting into the car, except in free practices 1. In the middle, beyond yields, there is also the commercial issue and the money that each one can bring. In that facet, the Argentine would have advantage.

Colapinto, better than anyone, knows that you cannot fail. October has three scheduled races: Singapore, the United States and Mexico. “Do not collide, add points and be fast,” were the commandments that Briatore, in the best Moses style, imposed Franco when he climbed to Alpine back in May, in the GP of Emilia-Romagna. Writing looks like a titanic task with the Highway of the car. But staying at the pace he showed in the last four dates will be key.

The first challenge is not simple: the Singapore oven. “Singapore is one of the toughest tests of the season. I discovered this unique physical challenge last year, so I spent time to a specific training to prepare for these extreme conditions. The circuit itself is very enjoyable. It is fast, with many technical sequences, and the careers, in general, are spectacular,” Collapint said in the previous one.

“It is always an incredible experience to run under the spotlights, and the city is beautiful to visit as part of our sport. We had a difficult test in Baku, but the team is focused on the next races and we will do everything possible to succeed this weekend,” said Franco Before going on track in Marina Bay, the place where the first night race was played in the history of F1.