Alpine Retains Colapinto for 2025 Season Amid Bottas Rumors

Franco Colapinto, who replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine during the 2025 Formula 1 season, has struggled to score points and adapt to the challenging Alpine A525 car, which has a narrow operating window and power unit weaknesses. Despite his difficulties, including incidents on track and technical issues, Alpine has decided to keep Colapinto in the race seat for the remainder of the season, supported strongly by Renault Argentina's CEO Pablo Sibilla and backed by corporate Argentina. Speculation about Colapinto's potential replacement by Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas or a return of Jack Doohan has been fueled by Alpine's senior advisor Flavio Briatore's public doubts, but the team's priority remains focused on performance. Colapinto, 21, remains confident and is reportedly part of plans for a Formula 1 exhibition event in Buenos Aires later this year, further solidifying his position within the team for now. Team principal Briatore has set clear expectations for Colapinto to be fast, avoid crashes, and score points, but so far, Colapinto has yet to meet those targets. Overall, while Colapinto faces significant pressure, Alpine is committed to giving him time to develop and improve through the 2025 season.