F1 pilot: ‘I have never felt so inadequate’

Alpine pilot Franco Colapinto admitted that last season was the most difficult season of his career. After leaving Williams, the Argentinian got the chance to stay in Formula 1 when the Enstone team invited him to serve as a reserve driver for the 2025 season.

Then the main bet was on Jack Douhan. However, after six stages, Alpin realized that Duane was not suitable for the team and decided to change the squad and transferred Colapinto to the main team.

Despite his impressive performance at Williams in 2024, the Argentinian pilot completed the 2025 season without scoring a single point and became the only driver other than Duane who failed to find the goal. Alpin had previously openly admitted that they were not confident of serious consequences because the development of the 2025 car was restricted early in order to prepare the car for the 2026 regulations.

Summing up his first season, Colapinto admitted that he had never felt so powerless before:

“I think this year has been a very long year.”

“It was a year where I learned a lot. It was a year where I had a lot of incredible experiences that I didn’t think I would have in my first year in Formula 1, and I think it was a very sudden learning curve in terms of how to control your emotions and how to deal with difficult moments.”

“It’s been a tough year for everyone. I don’t think I’ve ever had a season where I felt like I wasn’t going that fast, that I wasn’t where I wanted to be, because at the end of the day, as athletes, we are so competitive, especially me.”

“There has never been a year where I said ‘I can’t win, I can’t get on the podium, I can’t fight for a position’. I always knew that if I did everything right and worked well with the team, I could achieve it. This year too, winning will mean getting points for us. So at this level, when you see that the result is not coming, it is very difficult to cope and this is the first time this has happened to me.”