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Franco Colapinto will remain with Alpine for the 2027 Formula 1 season, the team confirmed Thursday. Colapinto made his Formula 1 debut mid-2024 for Williams but was unable to land a full-time seat. However, he joined Alpine as its test and reserve driver and was promoted to a race seat after only six grands prix, replacing Jack Doohan. Colapinto struggled through 2025, failing to score a point, amid Alpine's wider competitive malaise. Colapinto stayed on for 2026 and has enjoyed an uptick in performance, scoring points in half of this season's 12 events to hold 12th in the championship, on 19 points. The announcement solidifies Alpine’s driver lineup for 2027, with Colapinto’s teammate Pierre Gasly signed up through 2028. “We are very happy to confirm our driver line-up for 2027 with Franco staying as a race driver alongside Pierre,” said Alpine boss Flavio Briatore. “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 Montréal 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.” Added Colapinto: “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 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.” U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.