Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen said the team extended Franco Colapinto’s contract because of his performances and not the sponsorship he has brought.
Colapinto, who started racing for the team at the seventh round this year, was confirmed as Pierre Gasly’s 2026 team mate earlier today.
The team is running the branding of Colapinto’s sponsor Mercado Libre for the third race in a row this weekend. However Nielsen said that is incidental to the team’s decision to keep him in their car.
“You can’t ignore the financials, of course it plays a part in it,” he told Sky. “But ultimately we’ve got Franco on talent and the fact that he brings the financial side is a happy accident.”
Colapinto initially struggled to measure up against Gasly after replacing Jack Doohan in the team’s line-up. However he has been a closer match for his team mate in recent races and out-qualified Gasly on four occasions.
Nielsen said Colapinto has shown clear improvement since stepping into the seat. “It’s very difficult for any of the new drivers coming in,” he said. “We’ve seen some come in and hit the ground running straight away and we’ve seen others come in and struggle a little bit.
“Franco obviously did some races with Williams last year, substituted for Jack from Imola and struggled a bit to start with, to be honest. And then gradually – we’re lucky to have Pierre as a marker, an established driver – Franco was able up his game and take the fight to Pierre in a car that’s not as competitive as we would like.
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“But nonetheless, when you compare them to each other, he started doing a reasonable job and became comparable to Pierre, even quicker than Pierre on a few occasions. So ultimately, that’s what got him the seat.”
Alpine considered a wide range of alternatives before settling on Colapinto, according to Nielsen. “To be honest, we had everybody on the table and a lot more drivers that have since gone elsewhere,” he said.
“Gradually we iterated towards choosing Franco. We’re happy with that. But anybody that was a possibility at some stage or another, we considered them.”
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