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OFFICIAL: Colapinto leaves Williams Racing for BWT Alpine F1 Team
Franco Colapinto will leave Williams Racing to join Alpine F1 Team. The Argentine star made his debut for the British team last season, matching former teammate, Alexander Albon's pace from the get go and managing to score points in only his second F1 outing, making a good overall impression, which earned the attention of several teams up and down the paddock. Following many months of speculation surrounding his future, his next destination is now known to be Alpine as the French team itself announced.
The now former Williams talent will join Alpine in as their reserve driver. Flavio Briatore, Luca De Meo's Executive Advisor for the F1 team expressed his interest for Colapinto on several occasions and said interest has now materialised in a switch to the French team.
Why did Alpine choose Colapinto?
The Argentine driver made a good overall impression, with an initial streak of excellent races in which he managed to keep up with veteran teammate, Alex Albon, and eventually beat him more often than not, scoring points in a consistent fashion, which garnered the attention of several F1 Teams, including Red Bull and VCARB. However following a string of incidents that saw him put his car in the wall, Red Bull chose to promote Liam Lawson to the main team, and Isack Hadjar to VCARB, drivers from their own young driver's programme.
Jack Doohan made his debut at Abu Dhabi last season after Esteban Ocon's premature and surprising exit from the team. Amidst the rumours floating around in terms of a set limit of races for him to prove his worth, this news will certainly bring the pressure on for the Australian, to know that a driver as capable as Colapinto proved himself to be last year, is waiting in the wings. As Briatore previously stated to Le Parisien: "If there's a driver who isn't making progress, who isn't bringing me results, I change him. You can't be emotional in F1".
However, the Italian guaranteed that Doohan would see the start of the 2025 season, in which he would drive the A525 alongside teammate Pierre Gasly. With Colapinto's signing, the team has now completed its lineup for the upcoming F1 season.
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