Who’re Alpine’s choices for its second F1 2026 seat?

There are few out there drives left for System 1's 2026 season. Crimson Bull's poisoned-chalice second seat alongside Max Verstappen stays open, because the workforce works out what to do with Yuki Tsunoda, and the results of filling that seat will lengthen to the Racing Bulls operation. Mercedes additionally doesn't have drivers below contract for subsequent 12 months, however will retain George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli for 2026. Alpine has the one different emptiness.

Though the Alpine lead driver spot was by no means doubtful – Pierre Gasly was already signed up for subsequent 12 months earlier than extending his contract to the tip of 2028 – the occupant of the second seat stays undecided.

After Steve Nielsen began work as managing director in the beginning of September, the extension of Gasly adopted fairly swiftly; now, the subsequent merchandise on the Briton's in-tray is to determine his accomplice for subsequent 12 months.

Since its experiments with inexperienced drivers this season haven't been completely profitable, as Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto have shared the seat and are but to attain factors, Alpine is contemplating whether or not to stay or twist with its strategy.

There's a lack of skilled choices out there, so Alpine could also be pressured to stay with youth. Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez made contact with Alpine however, as they have been superior in Cadillac contract talks, they have been by no means actually near signing with the Enstone workforce. Together with the standard suspects, there are a few candidates who may very well be out there relying on how contract talks progress elsewhere.

Let's check out Alpine's principal 2026 choices.

The most definitely selection: Franco Colapinto

This could symbolize the secure possibility for Alpine. Briatore has hinted that the workforce might need tried to hurry the Argentine a bit an excessive amount of, with an excessive amount of stress on his shoulders after coming in for Jack Doohan after Miami.

“Final 12 months he did very properly. However perhaps to be within the workforce with driver like Pierre, and all the time in competitors with the team-mate, perhaps we put an excessive amount of stress on him,” Briatore defined at Zandvoort. “I believe we have to take into account that. The driving force is a human being and we have to perceive what's happening within the heads of those youngsters. These are younger youngsters and I believe it's our mistake to underestimate the human a part of the driving force. We're all the time trying on the timing. Possibly I missed one thing within the administration [of Colapinto].”

Colapinto landed at Williams with no expectation on his shoulders and carried out admirably, however started to rack up the crashes; though final 12 months's FW46 was typically troublesome on the rear, Colapinto might have began to hearken to the hype. Shifting to Alpine in a reserve position very a lot felt like a sure precursor to a full-time drive earlier than too lengthy, and so it proved when Doohan was demoted after six races.

Nevertheless it's not been simple going. Colapinto shunted first day out throughout qualifying at Imola, and has but to determine inside the prime 10. Outcomes have began to return to him, nonetheless, and ending eleventh at Zandvoort put him inside touching distance of an all-important level. His qualifying head-to-head with Gasly now stands at 7-3, which is not too dangerous, however he is not fairly been the explosive presence that final 12 months's performances had demonstrated. He is not been a transparent step up on Doohan.

The ‘we acquired it improper' selection: Jack Doohan

It is unlikely that Alpine will go crawling again to Doohan, however we'll hold him within the ring for now. One suspects that, if the workforce actually felt the Australian was value pursuing, it will have reinstated him to the line-up at Colapinto's expense…except advertising forces/delight had been at stake.

That mentioned, Doohan most likely did not get a good crack of the whip. There have been too many crashes, sure, however Colapinto has ensured the identical misfortune since changing him – he is simply compartmentalised his shunts in much less important components of the weekend. It appeared that Doohan was on the up, nonetheless; he'd drawn degree with Gasly at 3-3 in grand prix qualifying classes in Miami, however coalesced with Liam Lawson on the first nook to carry his race to an early finish.

Though Doohan hadn't been precisely stellar in these six races, it by no means felt like he was set as much as succeed. However maybe Alpine had already seen sufficient by means of TPC runs and thru the primary quarter of the season: he was a succesful driver, however not one with the spark it was in search of. Both method, it would proceed to evaluate the Queenslander and decide whether or not it made the proper selection earlier this 12 months. A route again does, nonetheless, look unlikely.

The left-field selection: Paul Aron

The so-far under-utilised third prong within the Alpine teen trident, Aron was considered one of Ollie Oakes' signings earlier than Oakes resigned as workforce principal, having impressed on the Briton's Hitech workforce.

That the Estonian has caught round means that he is earned some credit score within the financial institution by means of his simulator runs, and was loaned out to Sauber for 2 FP1 runs rather than Nico Hulkenberg earlier than deputising for Colapinto in FP1 at Monza in his first Alpine run. He was on the tempo in his Sauber runs, albeit along with his second outing in Hungary curtailed by a powertrain situation. He was the 0.5s off Gasly's finest time in Monza's FP1 session.

Aron led a few of final 12 months's F2 title race earlier than shedding floor to Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, though the concept that he saved such robust firm somewhat suggests he might hack it in F1 if given the prospect. Hearsay has it that he is additionally displayed good tempo in TPC runs, and should absolutely be worthy of consideration if Colapinto does not fairly collect momentum over the remainder of 2025.

The skilled selection: Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson

It is very probably that one driver goes to be jettisoned from the Crimson Bull ecosystem on the finish of the 12 months, as Arvid Lindblad turns into extra strongly linked with a Racing Bulls debut subsequent season. Additional shuffling is probably going if Isack Hadjar finally ends up with a Crimson Bull promotion.

Thus, it will depend on who's extra more likely to lose out between Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. If Alpine felt that its rookie-based experimentation wasn't getting anyplace, then both would pose a known-quantity possibility. In the direction of the tip of their time as team-mates, Tsunoda was on phrases with Gasly, whereas Lawson was additionally thought of to be a match for Tsunoda at occasions. Nonetheless, their hopes of thriving at Crimson Bull have been dealt a blow by their difficulties with a capricious RB21 chassis.

Both can be a smart possibility for Alpine for 2026. Gasly could be inclined to assist Tsunoda's credentials contemplating that the 2 acquired on properly throughout their AlphaTauri days, though Briatore could also be an appreciator of Lawson's hard-headed strategy to racing because the Kiwi continues his rehabilitation from a bruising two races at Crimson Bull.

The “Moneyball” selection: Leonardo Fornaroli

If the Italian's not in competition for an Alpine drive, then he very a lot ought to be. After profitable the F3 title with no victory to his title (his consistency very a lot holding him above his collection counterparts), Fornaroli has kicked on and racked up 4 wins in F2 as he seeks to grow to be the subsequent back-to-back winner of the F1 junior classes.

Presently, the Piacenza-born driver is following an analogous profession trajectory to Gabriel Bortoleto: F3 win with Trident, and now main the F2 standings with Invicta. Remarkably, Fornaroli stays a free agent in terms of F1 junior-team standing, a quirk that has his Invicta workforce principal James Robinson puzzled.

“It is completely mind-blowing that he hasn't been introduced for an F1 position for subsequent 12 months already, provided that if you happen to suppose many of the different drivers within the prime seven or eight positions within the championship are a part of F1 workforce academies,” Robinson advised Autosport.

“I believe Leo is a little bit of a Moneyball-type choose. He does not do the massive banzai strikes that some drivers do. He does not do foolish dances on the rostrum. He is not very outspoken within the media. However having labored in System 1 for 20 years, understanding what F1 groups search for in drivers, Leo is an distinctive man when it comes to growing a automobile.”

If Alpine continues to have a look at youth over expertise for 2026, Fornaroli's title success(es, most likely) ought to put him on the prime of that checklist.

Anybody else?

Alpine's different junior racers – Kush Maini and Gabriele Mini – haven't been notably spectacular in F2 this season. Alpine World Endurance Championship driver Mick Schumacher has, nonetheless, been touted as an possibility for the F1 workforce, though Briatore advised Auto Motor und Sport that Schumacher was “not on our checklist” for 2026.

Alpine additionally has Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi, Fred Makowiecki, Jules Gounon, and Paul-Loup Chatin on its books, however none of them have the Schumacher surname and thus are nowhere close to F1 seat discourse. Fellow ‘son-of' Gounon can't rely on the nostalgia of father Jean-Marc's outcomes at Minardi and Simtek, for instance.

Elsewhere in F2, Luke Browning and Alex Dunne have been wildly spectacular of their first seasons within the championship, whereas they're tied as much as the Williams and McLaren junior programmes respectively, they absolutely have launch choices if an F1 seat emerges.

Had Mercedes succeeded in luring Max Verstappen to its workforce for 2026, paddock whispers had recommended that Antonelli might have been set for an Alpine mortgage deal – probably knocking off just a few quid off subsequent 12 months's powertrain deal. This door is now closed, nonetheless, given Verstappen's dedication to Crimson Bull.