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Franco Colapinto will join Alpine as one of its Formula 1 test and reserve drivers after a multi-year deal was struck with Williams.
As predicted by The Race, Colapinto is being drafted in by Alpine to join a roster of young talent that includes Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa.
Alpine said that as part of his role the Argentinean will be in attendance at a number of grands prix, as well as conducting driving duties for its Testing Previous Cars (TPC) programme and working on the simulator.
Speaking about the opportunity, Colapinto said: “I am super excited to have the opportunity to join BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team.
“First of all, I want to say thank you to Williams for all their support from the moment I joined the Academy until the last race in Abu Dhabi. They turned my dream of racing in Formula 1 into reality, and I will always be grateful for that.
“Now, it is time for a new chapter, and to take on this challenge with BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team is truly an honour.”
While the line-up of Pierre Gasly and rookie Jack Doohan will start the season for Alpine, its executive advisor Flavio Briatore has openly admitted that he views Colapinto as part of the squad’s future.
“Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now,” said Briatore.
“It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula 1 grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver.
“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”
Colapinto had originally been drafted in to F1 by Williams as replacement for Logan Sargeant from the Italian Grand Prix onwards.
However, he arrived in F1 well-aware that he had no chance of a 2025 F1 seat with his Grove-based squad because it had already committed to Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
A run of impressive results early on, including eighth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, put him on other teams’ radars, and he was initially linked with Red Bull.
However, a more difficult end to the campaign, which included big crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas, prompted Red Bull to lose interest.
Alpine, however, has seen the potential in Colapinto, who also has healthy backing from South American sponsors.
