‘I know he's immensely quick’ – Vowles backs Colapinto to deliver for Alpine after seat swap

Williams boss James Vowles has backed his former driver Franco Colapinto to deliver when he replaces Jack Doohan at Alpine for the next five Grands Prix.

The French squad opted to rotate their drivers ahead of this weekend's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, demoting Doohan to reserve and promoting Colapinto into the race seat alongside Pierre Gasly as part of an evaluation of their driver line-up.

ANALYSIS: Why Alpine chose to promote Colapinto and bench Doohan – concluding a dramatic 12 hours after Oakes' resignation

Colapinto made his F1 debut last year with Williams, scoring points in two of his first four races of a nine-Grand Prix stint replacing Logan Sargeant.

As there were no race seats available at Williams for 2025 and 2026, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz already signed up, Vowles did a deal with Alpine to allow Colapinto to join the Enstone-based team on a multi-year deal in the hope he would get a race seat as soon as possible – and it was a move that has now paid off.

"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 either in '25 or we thought more specifically '26," said Vowles when talking to selected media at Williams' Grove headquarters.

"I'm proud he was part of our academy and that we have a responsibility towards why he's now on the grid today.

READ MORE: From brilliance in Baku to struggles in Sao Paulo – Colapinto’s 9 Grand Prix weekends so far ranked

"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."

Colapinto's debut for Alpine comes after the news Oliver Oakes resigned from his position as Team Principal with Executive Adviser Flavio Briatore covering his duties in the interim.

Despite the shake-up, Vowles believes the team and Colapinto will still knuckle down and focus on the job of trying to score points and improve Alpine's position of ninth in the Constructors' Championship, starting with this weekend's race in Imola.

"Is it in a turbulent time? Yes, no doubt about it," said Vowles. "Will they be supportive to Pierre and Franco?

READ MORE: Alpine share more information over Oakes’ departure as team boss after ‘personal decision’

"Yes, I think they will as well because 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 stronger so I think it's still the right place for him to be at this stage."