F1 team make decision on driver 'without full-time seat' after Austrian Grand Prix

F1 team Alpine have reportedly made a decision regarding the future of Franco Colapinto as his initial race-by-race trial comes to an end.

Back in May, Alpine announced that Franco Colapinto would replace Jack Doohan for a five-race window after the latter failed to score a single point across the first six race weekends of the 2025 season.

After an impressive cameo with Williams last season, Colapinto was brought on board as Alpine’s reserve driver for the F1 2025 campaign.

The 22-year-old was deemed good enough to become Pierre Gasly’s teammate, although his form in recent weeks has been unspectacular, to the say the least.

Colapinto has posted finishes of P16 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, P13 in Monaco, P15 in the Spanish GP and P13 at the Canadian Grand Prix coming into this weekend's race in Austria.

So, has he done enough to earn a full-time seat? According to PlanetF1, the Argentine is set to remain as an Alpine race driver after the Austrian Grand Prix.

Speaking to the media this week, Colapinto appeared to drop a hint around his future, saying that he was looking forward to returning to Silverstone for the British GP next month.

“Silverstone was the first time I drove the Williams last season and it was, in general, just a very special session to be doing my first FP1 with the team," he said.

“I did a good job there next to Alex and it was really good for my future and probably what put me in that situation to jump in later in the year, so it was a very important weekend.

“To be able to have that comparison now at the same track I did a run in the Williams last season, it’s cool. It’s a bit more knowledge, a bit more experience. It always becomes easier as well when you already drove a Formula 1 at that track. You don’t get that shock of speed.

“It's good to move forward to Silversone, too. It’s a great track, full of high speed and I love driving there.”

Since stepping up to race for Alpine, Colapinto has failed to score a single point, having finished 16th, 13th, 15th and 13th in his first four races. Image credit: Getty

It has also been suggested that there is no fixed end date for Colapinto’s trial, but rather Alpine will continue to evaluate the Argentine on a race-by-race basis.