Franco Colapinto finds his rhythm far from the F1 grid
The Argentine driver's unexpected 2025 season at Alpine took him from reserve to the race seat. Away from competition, he finds solace and balance in a quite different pursuit.
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The transition from reserve to race driver carries its own particular weight. For Franco Colapinto at BWT Alpine Formula One Team in 2025, the velocity of events, called up to drive five rounds from Imola, then navigating an uncertain tenure through the season’s latter half, demanded release. What emerged was an affinity as far removed from the cockpit as possible: horsemanship, that oldest and most contemplative of partnerships between human and animal.
Colapinto, the Argentine driver who became his nation’s first Formula 1 competitor since Gastón Mazzacone in 2001, joined Alpine as test and reserve driver in January 2025. His promotion came in May when he replaced Jack Doohan, and the next months saw him race alongside Pierre Gasly in the A525, the team’s final car to carry Renault engines. The demands were immense; his future oscillated between confirmation and uncertainty.
The steadiness required by elite horses, their quiet attention, their responsiveness to the smallest adjustments of weight and intention, offers something racing cannot. Aboard a horse, there exists a different language of performance, one measured in harmony rather than tenths of a second. By season’s end, Alpine confirmed Colapinto would remain as Gasly’s partner into 2026, offering the stability he had sought. The horse, quite simply, helped him find his way.
Imagery courtesy of BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@alpinef1team).