Franco Colapinto Embarks on First Off-Season Before Full-Time F1 Campaign

For the first time in his racing career, Franco Colapinto finally gets to experience a "real off-season" ahead of his first full-time Formula 1 campaign. Over the past two seasons, Colapinto has frequently found himself slotting into a racing seat mid-year. In 2024, he replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams following the Dutch Grand Prix, before taking over from Jack Doohan at Alpine starting from the Imola race last year.

Now, with his remaining stint at Alpine until 2026, Colapinto is embarking on his first winter off-season as an F1 driver, allowing him to become more integrated with the Enstone-based team. Not only that, the debut of the Alpine A526 on Friday evening marked his first experience at the top of the racing world, highlighting how relatively inexperienced the 22-year-old driver is.

The new engine regulations mark the beginning of a new era for Alpine, with the team now being a Mercedes customer – and presenting a great opportunity for Colapinto. Colapinto finds himself on the same level, with himself and all the drivers starting from scratch with the new cars.

">I'm incredibly excited," said Colapinto. "For the first time in my career, I have a real off-season preparing for the full-year campaign, with testing and the first race. For me, it's really important because I finally feel like I'm part of the project and it means I can work hard with everyone in the team from the start.

">We have a good chance to see the car and prepare in the simulator. Obviously, it's very different from anything I've ever experienced so far, and I think it's the same for most drivers on the grid. There are new tricks and new challenges to learn to maximize this package, and I see it as a really amazing challenge.

">I know everyone in the team is motivated to have a good season. I'll try to learn as much as possible in the early races, always build, always grow, and hopefully that means we can be competitive as a team."