In Formula 1 there are battles that ignite the grandstands and dominate television replays, but the confrontations that truly define a driver often take place far from the spotlight. They are born inside the garage, where two teammates share the same car, the same data, and the same margin for error. It is a territory without excuses, where every detail becomes a direct comparison and every decision reveals something about character, mental clarity, and the ability to adapt under pressure. This is where the real hierarchies are formed, the ones that do not need cameras to be decisive.
This series was created to tell the story of those silent battles, the internal duels that rarely make headlines but can reshape careers, influence technical development, and define the identity of an entire team.
In the first episode, we explored the underlying tension inside the Mercedes garage, a team trying to rebuild balance and leadership. In the second, we stepped into Red Bull, where internal non-competition is part of the team’s DNA rather than a side effect. The third chapter focused on the generational clash at Haas, between the methodical experience of Esteban Ocon and the hungry aggression of Oliver Bearman.
The fourth installment took us into the most iconic and demanding garage of all: Ferrari. There, we examined the complex coexistence between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, two contrasting approaches to technical leadership and two different visions for the future of the Scuderia.
Today, the journey continues in a very different, more unstable and unpredictable environment: the Alpine garage. The team began the season with Jack Doohan alongside Pierre Gasly, but already at Imola it changed direction, replacing him with Franco Colapinto. A less eye-catching duel, perhaps, but one that is fundamental to understanding the present and future of a team still searching for its identity.
Alpine teammate battle 2025
In an Alpine team that has struggled for years to find continuity, oscillating between bold ambitions and results that fail to support them, the 2025 season has once again highlighted one of the most delicate dynamics for a rebuilding outfit: managing two drivers with vastly different levels of experience.
On one side stands Pierre Gasly, the technical reference point of the team and the only real constant within a structure that has changed faster than it has been able to stabilize. On the other is Jack Doohan, initially selected to represent the future, but immediately forced to contend with a difficult car and an environment that offers little margin for error.
The opening races revealed a more complex reality than expected: an unstable car, a technical department under pressure, and the urgent need to accelerate development. It was in this context that Alpine chose to intervene at Imola, replacing Doohan with Franco Colapinto.
Gasly, meanwhile, continued to embody the role of lead driver: experience, technical sensitivity, and the ability to guide the engineers’ work even in the most challenging moments. Franco Colapinto arrived as a burst of energy, bringing controlled aggression, enthusiasm, and a hunger that could be felt in every run.
Each session became a test of technical and psychological maturity, every small improvement an implicit message to the other side of the garage, all while carrying the shared responsibility of returning Alpine to a level that currently feels distant, but not unreachable.
Gasly vs Colapinto: the numbers tell the story
Inside the Alpine garage, the technical hierarchy of the 2025 season is clearly reflected in the statistics. Pierre Gasly has dominated the internal comparison with Franco Colapinto, who stepped in for Jack Doohan from Imola onwards. The French driver finished ahead of his teammate in 12 out of 18 races and beat him in qualifying on 13 occasions, scoring 22 points compared to zero for the Argentine.
The best results achieved further underline the gap: Gasly’s sixth place in races and fifth in qualifying stand in stark contrast to Colapinto’s best finishes of eleventh and twelfth. Neither driver set a fastest lap, but the most telling figure is the consistency with which Gasly maintained control of the garage, despite the car’s ongoing technical limitations.
Franco Colapinto, for his part, showed signs of growth and a solid capacity to adapt, but his season was also marked by several incidents, some of them avoidable. These mistakes raised questions about his future beyond 2025 and put additional pressure on a technically fragile team. Despite this, Alpine decided to renew its confidence in the young Argentine, betting on his development and the potential that has yet to be fully expressed.
What about race pace?
The comparison between Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto tells a more nuanced story than the championship points alone suggest. While Gasly retained his status as the technical benchmark, Colapinto displayed occasional flashes of competitiveness, even though many of his races ended before the chequered flag.
Across most race weekends, from Bahrain to Silverstone, and including Spa, Monza, and Las Vegas, it was Gasly who consistently came out on top. He demonstrated a more solid approach to race management and a greater ability to maintain stable performance levels even in changing conditions. Overall, the picture shows the French driver prevailing in more than two-thirds of the races, confirming the value of his experience and technical feel.
For Franco Colapinto, the signs are encouraging but not yet sufficient. The raw speed is there, but it still needs to be channelled with greater discipline and consistency. In a team searching for stability, race pace becomes a faithful mirror of the contribution each driver can offer. And for now, that reflection continues to lean clearly in Pierre Gasly’s favour.
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