Franco Colapinto, in Brazil and waiting for the imminent announcement
His continuity in Alpine as a starter for 2026 is a cry, but on the press day at the San Pablo GP everything continued under strict secrecy.
Franco Colapinto’s continuity as Alpine’s starting driver in 2026 was the worst kept secret on the cloudy and cool Thursday of the São Paulo GP, the 21st round of Formula 1. All signs point to the official announcement coming during the São Paulo weekend and, perhaps, before the start of track activity. The pilots’ press day had a meeting reserved for the Buenos Aires native with Spanish-speaking media, but it was canceled and postponed to Friday or Saturday. Post announcement? Everything seems to indicate it.
Colapinto arrived at the Interlagos circuit at 9:30. Accompanied by his managers, he got into Alpine hospitality and his outings were to participate in different events. The first, a stationary bicycle that recycles plastics. While Pierre Gasly pedaled, Colapinto placed small caps into a container that crushed them with the Frenchman’s pedaling. From there, the couple from the Enstone team walked about 20 meters to the position where Sebastian Vettel was waiting for them. Yes, the four-time world champion! The German leads the Forest, Drawing Together program in which he invites everyone in the paddock to draw a tree in a campaign for the conservation of the Amazon. The Argentine driver and Gasly took the pencils and had fun with Seb.
From there, again to hospitality. The attention remained to the press, exclusively in English. Alpine prepared everything for the graphic media on the hospitality front. First they set up a kind of conference room, with rows of chairs pointing to a table. Everything changed when Sam Mallinson, the team’s press officer, came out and rearranged everything at a table surrounded by ten chairs. 11.40 the talk in English beganas the FIA marks, with about 20 journalists from different media, among which was AM850.com.
Of course, the first question was direct: If in 2026 he would continue as a starter. And Colapinto, dribbled in the best style of an Argentine paddock player, dribbled: “I don’t know. I go race by race and now my focus is on this place that I enjoy very much. Racing with F1 in Brazil is very special for me. There are many Argentines here and in 2024 I couldn’t enjoy it”.
Later, Franco delved into 2024, which was marked by the death of his grandfather just before the start of the activity and by the two blows he suffered in the rain. “I learned a lot from that weekend. It was my first race with rain and it was very difficult. I am happy to return to Brazil. When the year began and I was not a starter, one of my dreams was to be one for this date. It is a unique race, for me it is like being at home. I came to Brazil as a child. There will be many Argentines here and I know the effort they make to come and support me,” he said. As for the chances in this edition of the São Paulo competition, Alpine’s performance does not invite enthusiasm. It is the worst car in the category, the two A525s come from being 37 seconds behind the closest in Mexico and are at the bottom of the Manufacturers’ table.
“It’s difficult for us. As the races went on the car became more and more complicated and slower. It’s difficult for us to be motivated and strong together. And we are at the moment. That’s what we give here, there at Enstone, here on the track. I think the future… I’m not really looking at that much. I’m focused on this season and finishing it.”he analyzed. Colapinto’s performance took a big leap from Hungary and he equaled, and even beat, Gasly. This improvement and the financial support that Franco has were key to remaining as a driver in 2026, an announcement that will come soon. Beyond the secrecy that exists in Alpine, it is the worst kept secret in the paddock.
