Franco Colapinto will be a stronger driver for racing at the troubled Alpine team, says Williams boss James Vowles, who has backed the Argentine to thrive amid Enstone’s off-track turmoil.
Colapinto was the big winner from a tumultuous week at the French-owned team, moving into Jack Doohan’s race seat to partner Pierre Gasly after the Australian rookie was dropped just six races into the season.
But in an unusual twist, the team also revealed Colapinto would have only five races to prove himself, with management set to reassess his hold on the seat after the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of next month.
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The news came after the shock announcement that team principal Oliver Oakes had immediately resigned from the team following the previous Miami Grand Prix.
The British former boss cited personal reasons for his surprise exit. It was later reported that his brother and business partner William Oakes had been arrested and charged with transferring criminal property after being stopped with “a large amount of cash” in Silverstone Park, where the Oakes brothers are co-directors of the Hitech racing team.
Executive adviser Flavio Briatore will take over his responsibilities, but the controversial Italian boss will not be formally conferred team principal status given he works as a consultant rather than an employee.
The FIA will instead recognise racing director Dave Greenwood as the member of staff responsible for Alpine this weekend.
The circumstances would appear to be poor for Colapinto to undertake what could be a make-or-break five-race appearance on the grid.
But Vowles argued that Alpine’s off-track chaos would bring out the best in the Argentine and accelerate his development as a grand prix driver.
“Is it in a turbulent time? Yes, no doubt about it,” Vowles said, per Racer. “Will they be supportive to Pierre and Franco? Yes, I think they will as well,
“They’re still the elite athletes that are driving for them in order to score the most points you can. What normally happens even in a turbulent time is you still support your drivers.
“I actually think the learning is invaluable, whether it’s in that team or elsewhere — (a) it’s time on track, (b) it’s time and a difficult environment, and if you come out of it, you’ll only be stronger as a result.
“Franco is strong, so I think it’s still the right place for him to be at this stage.”
PIT TALK PODCAST: Michael and Matt unpack the turmoil at Alpine after losing its team principal and dropping Aussie young gun Jack Doohan.
Vowles made the surprise move to promote Colapinto from the Williams academy into Logan Sargeant’s race seat last season, the 21-year-old having been a left-field option given his lukewarm results in the junior categories and his F1 inexperience, having appeared in just one test and one practice session prior to his debut.
But he impressed in his first race in Monza, showing strong qualifying and race pace, and he scored his first points at the following round in Azerbaijan.
With Williams having already signed Carlos Sainz to the seat for 2025, his good form enlivened the driver market, attracting inquiries from both Red Bull and Alpine before a crash-prone end to his campaign saw interest cool.
Alpine eventually negotiated to take him on loan as a reserve driver.
Vowles said he had agreed to the deal specifically because Enstone offered him a shot at getting onto the grid as soon as possible.
“There’s a reason why we were really happy to do a transaction with Alpine, because I really did think it’s his best chance of being in a racing seat — other than 2025, we thought more specifically 2026,” he said.
“So that’s number one, and I’m proud he was part of our academy and that we have a responsibility towards why he’s now on the grid today.
“What you saw with us is he got up to speed very quickly. I know he’s immensely quick, so I think irrespective of whatever deadline they’ve set, he’ll do a good job in that period of time.”
Doohan dropped! Franco joins Alpine | 00:32
While this would appear to be a bad time for Colapinto to make his debut at Alpine, he couldn’t have hoped for a better race to get behind the wheel.
Two of his five victories across Formula 2 and Formula 3 have come in Imola, including his most recent win, which came from the front row of the sprint at last year’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Two of his remaining three victories were also scored in Italy, at Monza.
“Italy feels like a very special place for me,” he said. “Imola is a track I really enjoy. It is just a legendary place with some great corners which I am especially looking forward to in a Formula 1 car for the first time.
“I will aim to work hard with the team and try to get on the pace quickly in order to contribute to the team’s ambitions for the weekend.
“It has been a great first few months with everyone at Enstone with some [private testing] running in the 2023 car and time in the simulator, so I am definitely feeling ready and prepared.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity and now I have to get up to speed and showcase what I am capable of doing in the car.”
Doohan will remain as Alpine’s “first-choice reserve driver” for the next five races. Alpine says he remains “an integral part of the team”.
“We have long-term goals as a team to achieve, and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those,” Doohan said.
“For now I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”