Alpine driver Franco Colapinto has articulated the reasons behind his difficulties during the 2025 Formula 1 season, despite a promising stint as a Williams replacement the previous year.
The 22-year-old has yet to secure any championship points since taking over from Jack Doohan before the Imola event seven races ago, while his Alpine teammate, Pierre Gasly, has accumulated 13 points in the same period.
This situation arises after Colapinto’s initial entry into F1 during the final nine races of the prior season, where he substituted for Logan Sargeant at Williams, prior to Carlos Sainz’s arrival from Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Colapinto made a notable impression with Williams, achieving points finishes in two of his first four races. However, he has struggled to replicate this success with Alpine, citing a “lack of confidence with the car.”
“I’m not finding, sometimes, my feet in some corners,” he added, in anticipation of the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I’m struggling to be able to turn in and to come into the corners and that’s just not really giving me much confidence. I didn’t have this issue last year, I could go straight in and be quick straight away.
“Now I’m struggling a bit more with that and that’s the reality. I don’t have the confidence as I had maybe last year and that’s a bit costly in F1.”
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Colapinto identified “optimising the entire weekend” as an area needing enhancement, expressing confidence in his ability to do so, even if current results do not reflect it.
“We’ve been working hard with the team to understand some of the issues and I do believe that we’ve been getting better at some things,” said Colapinto, who began the year in the role of an Alpine reserve driver.
“It’s just that feeling that nothing has been connected or put back together and that package that we have, it’s been maximised at times, but not in some other times.
“I feel there is progress that is being done behind the scenes, it’s just that when you don’t see it in results it’s very tricky to keep pushing, to keep working in the same direction because you don’t actually see the results happening.
“It’s something that you can’t really rely on when you don’t see it on track. But I do believe that we’ve been getting better in many areas and that we are still working very well with the team. It’s going to come, but it’s just taking longer than what I would like.”
The F1 season is set to enter its annual summer recess following the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, with racing activities resuming at Zandvoort from August 29-31.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images
While many drivers will use this period for relaxation and vacation, Colapinto’s recent addition to the grid and current performance levels mean he will continue his efforts throughout August.
“My season has been a bit shorter so far,” he said. “So I need to keep working and when you are not really comfortable with the performance, I think you just need to keep pushing and keep going.
“Of course you need time to reset, but you need to use the free time to try to keep learning and understanding what you need to get better at.
“So, we will of course keep pushing forward and try to come back from the summer break stronger than what we left.”
