Alpine announce Colapinto contract extension as team confirms unchanged 2027 line-up

Franco Colapinto will continue to race in Formula 1 with Alpine next season after the Enstone-based squad announced he will partner Pierre Gasly in an unchanged line-up.

The Argentine driver joined Alpine as a reserve for 2025 before stepping into the race seat from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as a replacement for Jack Doohan.

He was retained for this season and has since scored 19 points across six Grands Prix so far this season, working with Gasly to help the team to P6 in the Teams' Championship.

Colapinto has formed a strong partnership both on and off track with Gasly, who signed a deal to race with Alpine until at least the end of 2028 around this time last year – and was favourite to keep his seat.

Following discussions internally, Alpine have extended Colapinto's stay saying the combination with Gasly "provides the perfect match-up to drive the team forwards into the future".

Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore said: "We are very happy to confirm our driver line-up for 2027 with Franco staying as a race driver alongside Pierre.

"For me, having consistency is very important. We are now settled from a driver point of view and I have said many times that, while this is an important piece of the puzzle, the most significant we have to get right is designing and building a fast race car, which absolutely remains our number one priority.

"We have seen Franco truly grow and mature into a great driver this year. His results in Miami and Montreal especially confirmed what I already knew: Franco belongs in Formula 1 and he belongs at this team.

"I expect both Franco, and Pierre, to continue doing a fantastic job on track and for the entire team to push relentlessly until we are fighting, and winning, at the front end of this sport.”

Colapinto added: “I am very pleased to remain with this team in 2027. I feel very happy and very settled here and it’s been even better that we have made significant progress this year compared to last.

"We have a lot more milestones to reach and I know the team is working so hard in finding performance and making the car better and better.

"Our long-term goals are obvious – to compete and win – and I am grateful to the team, Flavio and Steve [Nielsen, Managing Director], for the trust placed in me to be one of its drivers going into the future.

"I’m looking forward to seeing how everything plays out and focusing on my job on-track first and foremost.”

The news comes ahead of next weekend's Italian Grand Prix, where Colapinto will get the upgraded package the team debuted ahead of schedule with Gasly last time out in Zandvoort.