Explained: Franco Colapinto’s Alpine deal and how Williams can still benefit

Franco Colapinto has joined Alpine for F1 2025
The reveal that Franco Colapinto has signed a five-year deal with Alpine suggests it’s merely a matter of when, not if, he gets a race seat.
Last week, Alpine confirmed Colapinto on a “multi-year deal” as he takes on the reserve role with the Enstone-based squad for the F1 2025 season.
Franco Colapinto’s manager reveals contract length
Having remained largely silent for the past two months as the media storm around Colapinto swirled, the Argentinian’s manager Maria Catarineu spoke to Infobae this week to reveal some of the key elements of the negotiations between Alpine and her driver.
“Williams gave Franco to Alpine for five years,” she confirmed.
The exact nature of the deal between Alpine and Williams isn’t certain, although it’s understood Alpine is set to be in charge of Colapinto’s contractual rights for these five years. In other words, it is Alpine who has complete control over Colapinto’s future for those five years, with Williams unable to automatically pull him back if the Grove-based team desired.
However, Williams still remains in the picture – James Vowles’ squad is understood to have first dibs on Colapinto’s services at the conclusion of the contract, or at any point at which a natural contract break in the agreement comes up.
This would likely mean that should Colapinto not land in an Alpine race seat within a negotiated time frame, or if Alpine allows him to go back on the market, it is Williams who will have the first refusal.
But it is Alpine, not Williams, who controls the Argentinean’s future for the next half-decade.
With Colapinto having lost the interest of Red Bull following his trickier weekends in Brazil and Las Vegas at the tail end of 2024, Alpine’s executive advisor Flavio Briatore – the man who fought to secure Michael Schumacher’s services for the same team, in its Benetton guise, in the early 1990s – never lost faith.
It’s indicative of the confidence Briatore has that Colapinto is something special, with a five-year deal a particularly lengthy contract for someone relatively unproven in Formula 1 – particularly if it means turning its own back on a product of its own driver academy as a consequence.
According to Catarineu, Briatore estimates Colapinto can be in F1 for no less than 15 years should he deliver upon his potential, and Alpine is eager to try to capitalise on a large chunk of that in the early stages as he develops his talent – suggesting the team is confident of being able to extract the very best of what he can offer.
What Franco Colapinto signing implies for Jack Doohan
Jack Doohan is the obvious driver in danger, despite being one of Briatore’s clients – usually a situation that would mean more certainty.
Pierre Gasly, a proven quantity as a strong driver given the right equipment, is on a multi-year contract that takes him through until, at least, the end of 2026, but Doohan’s uncertain contract status has resulted in speculation that Briatore has lined Colapinto up for the possibility that Doohan flops.
Sources have told PlanetF1.com that Doohan remains the priority for F1 2025, and all the signs are that the Australian is going to be given a fair crack of the whip.
What is certain is that Doohan will start the season for Alpine – how far he gets into the season remains to be seen, although the speculation has suggested Doohan is only assured of six races at this point.
“We’ll start the year with Pierre and Jack, I can guarantee that. After that, we’ll see as the season progresses,” Briatore told Le Parisien.
“I have to get the team in the right condition to get results and the driver is the one who has to conclude the work of nearly 1,000 people behind him. Everyone works for just two people.”
Whether only a portion of the season is sufficient fairness is entirely subjective, but Doohan still has the upper hand over Colapinto at this point.
While Doohan and Colapinto’s junior category showings were much of a muchness, it was Colapinto’s instant impact upon stepping into Logan Sargeant’s vacated Williams that opened up the opportunities for him.
Doohan has the chance to make a similar impact – if he can keep pace with, or exceed, Gasly, then Colapinto does not represent an immediate improvement and, thus, gives Alpine no reason to stick him in the car.
Should Doohan perform, Colapinto can keep sharp via his planned programme of simulator work and an extensive TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) schedule until a spot opens up.
If Doohan isn’t performing after, say, 25 percent of the season, it would therefore be easy for Alpine to swap in their promising Argentinian youngster – replete with a huge existing fanbase and an incredibly lucrative sponsorship roster, always a welcome benefit for shareholders seeking to reduce their financial outlay.
With a five-year contract, Alpine can afford to be patient and keep a watching brief on Doohan, safe in the knowledge that it has a driver ready and waiting in the wings – a driver that some reports suggest cost as much as $20 million to secure.
But what seems certain is that Briatore has not fought this hard, nor paid the rumoured figures, to have a driver with Colapinto’s old-school je ne sais quoi sit on the sidelines watching.
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