Franco Colapinto
Franco Alejandro Colapinto is an Argentine racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine.
Born and raised in Pilar, Buenos Aires, Colapinto began competitive kart racing at the age of nine, winning several regional and national championships. Graduating to junior formulae in 2018, Colapinto won his first title at the 2019 F4 Spanish Championship with Drivex. He then finished third in the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Series in 2020. Colapinto moved into sportscar racing in 2021, competing in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series for G-Drive, finishing third at the latter. He also contested Formula Regional European with MP, finishing sixth overall. Colapinto progressed to FIA Formula 3 in, finishing fourth the following season with MP and graduating to FIA Formula 2.
A member of the Williams Driver Academy since 2023, Colapinto made his Formula One debut with Williams at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, replacing Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the season as an interim for the incoming Carlos Sainz Jr. With his debut, he became the first Argentine driver to compete in Formula One since Gastón Mazzacane in. Colapinto scored his maiden points finish at the, repeating this feat in the United States. He joined Alpine as a reserve driver for and was promoted after six Grands Prix to replace Jack Doohan, where he achieved a season-best result of eleventh at the. Colapinto is contracted to remain at Alpine until at least the end of the 2026 season.
Early and personal life
Franco Alejandro Colapinto was born on 27 May 2003 in Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Colapinto is of Italian descent through his father, and of Ukrainian descent through his mother Andrea Trofimczuk; he is a dual citizen of Argentina and Italy.Colapinto's favourite drivers are Lewis Hamilton and Ayrton Senna, and his favourite racing circuit is Spa-Francorchamps. He is a supporter of his local football team Boca Juniors.
In addition to his native Spanish, Colapinto is fluent in English, Italian, and semi-fluent in Brazilian Portuguese.
Junior racing career
Karting
Colapinto started karting at the age of nine. He won the Argentine Championship in 2016 and 2018, as well as the Buenos Aires Regional Championship in 2016 and 2017. Colapinto moved to Italy by himself when he was fourteen years old to pursue his racing career. Colapinto won the karting exhibition race at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics alongside María García Puig.F4 Spanish Championship
2018
Colapinto made his car racing debut in 2018, participating in the final round of the F4 Spanish Championship, driving for Drivex School. His father sold his house to pay for the season. On debut, he finished second in race three and was victorious in the final race.2019
In 2019, Colapinto signed with FA Racing by Drivex for a full campaign in the F4 Spanish Championship. His father had to sell his house to fund the season. He started his season strongly with two wins in the opening three rounds. This was followed by a hat trick of wins in Valencia and the season finale in Barcelona. With a total of ten poles, eleven wins and thirteen podiums, Colapinto clinched the title, nearly 100 points ahead of his nearest rival.Euroformula Open
During the 2019 season, Colapinto drove for Drivex as a guest driver in the 2019 round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He finished the races in 15th and 14th position.Formula Renault Eurocup
2019
Drivex also ran Colapinto during the 2019 season at Spa and Catalunya.2020
In July 2020, Colapinto joined Formula Renault Eurocup full-time with MP Motorsport. He won his first race on debut during the first race in Monza, and claimed a third place in the second race. In a season dominated by Victor Martins and Caio Collet, Colapinto only returned to the podium during the fifth round in Zandvoort, but was still able to win once again in Spa-Francorchamps. With four further podiums following that, which brought his podium tally nine throughout the season, he placed third in the championship with 213.5 points.Toyota Racing Series
In January 2020, Colapinto joined Kiwi Motorsport for the 2020 Toyota Racing Series. The season saw him claim a race win in Hampton Downs, which would be his only one of the campaign. He would later finish on the podium for the remaining two rounds of the season, allowing him to take third in the standings.Formula Regional European Championship
In 2021, Colapinto joined the inaugural Formula Regional European Championship with MP Motorsport. He missed the Imola opener due to clashing sportscar commitments, and had a woeful weekend the next time out in Barcelona. In Monaco, after having his lap times deleted in qualifying due to a technical infraction, Colapinto opted to withdraw from the weekend. He finally took his first podium with second place during the fifth round in Zandvoort, before securing a double victory at the Red Bull Ring. However, the second win would be stripped from him due to track limits. Nevertheless, Colapinto rebounded the following round in Valencia by winning the first race and runner-up in the second. Colapinto eventually finished sixth in the standings despite missing two rounds, lamenting his start to the season as a "lack of pace".FIA Formula 3 Championship
2022
In October 2020, Colapinto joined MP Motorsport for the first day of post-season testing at Catalunya. He did likewise the following year at Valencia, but ended up signing for Van Amersfoort Racing instead for the 2022 season, partnering Rafael Villagómez and Reece Ushijima. Colapinto started his with a pole position on his and his team's debut in the series in Sakhir. He led the feature race for the first half of the race, but was eventually passed by Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc, slipping to third. He was then give a time penalty for track limits which dropped Colapinto to fifth. In Imola, he qualified on reverse pole for the sprint race, but lost the lead early on to Caio Collet. Despite that, Colapinto would re-pass him back on the final lap, scoring his and VAR's maiden victory in the series. In the feature race, a wrong tyre choice on a damp track left him to finish down in 22nd place. After finishing ninth in the Barcelona feature race, Colapinto went scoreless during the Silverstone round as he was eliminated on the opening lap from a collision.In Spielberg, Colapinto returned to the podium with third place in the sprint race, having fended off Leclerc. He would grab points in the feature race with sixth. In the Budapest sprint race Colapinto quickly moved into the lead at the start, but later was unable to defend from Collet, but still managed to finish in second place despite having to manage an electrical issue. A disappointing weekend followed in Spa-Francorchamps where he failed to score, he managed to qualify fifth in Zandvoort. After finishing 13th in the sprint, Colapinto progressed to finish third on Sunday, his first feature race podium. Qualifying again on reverse pole during the final round in Monza, Colapinto led from start to finish for his second win, albeit having to defend hard from Oliver Bearman on the final lap. With two wins and five podiums, Colapinto ended his rookie F3 season ninth in the drivers' standings with 76 points.
2023
In September, Colapinto partook in the 2022 post-season test, again with MP Motorsport. On 9 January 2023, he was announced as MP Motorsport's driver for the 2023 season, partnering Jonny Edgar and Mari Boya. At the opening Sakhir round, Colapinto qualified on reverse pole, but lost out to Pepe Martí in the sprint and he ended in second place. He would finish tenth in the feature race. Qualifying seventh in Melbourne, Colapinto slowly climbed up the order, passing Sebastián Montoya on lap 6 to claim his first victory of the season. However, Colapinto was later disqualified. He then crashed out of the feature race after being hit by Luke Browning, ending his miserable weekend. Colapinto had a solid weekend in Monaco, finishing fourth in the sprint and sixth in the feature race.Colapinto secured third on the grid in Barcelona. He had strong pace in the sprint where he moved up the field to place sixth. In the feature race, he overcame Taylor Barnard early on to secure second place at the chequered flag. Qualifying seventh in Austria, Colapinto battled his way to the podium positions in the feature race, but a last lap contact with Montoya dropped him to fourth place. After qualifying ninth in Silverstone, Colapinto sat in third throughout the sprint race, but inherited the lead after Montoya and Barnard ahead collided. From there, he clinched his first win of the year, dedicating his victory to Dilano van 't Hoff, who was killed in a crash in FRECA. He finished eighth in the feature race. In Budapest, after qualifying fourth and making his way to seventh place in the sprint, Colapinto scored another feature race podium having overtook Leonardo Fornaroli on lap 9 for third.
Colapinto qualified fourth in Spa-Francorchamps, and scored more points in the races with fifth in the sprint, and a wrong tyre strategy meant he finished tenth in the feature race. In the Monza season finale, he qualified on reverse pole and had a fierce battle with teammate Boya in the sprint race, but Colapinto won out and was able to take his second win of the campaign. His feature race ended disappointingly on the opening lap as contact with a driver broke his suspension. Despite that, Colapinto concluded the season fourth in the Drivers' Championship, with two wins, five podiums and 110 points.