Alpine’s 2026 seat decision: Flavio Briatore set to choose between Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron. Flavio Briatore revealed that Alpine will decide between Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron.

Alpine, Briatore: “For 2026 we will choose between Colapinto and Aron”

Who will join Pierre Gasly?

On September 6, Alpine officially announced a three-year contract extension for Pierre Gasly, tying him to the team until the end of the 2028 season. This decision was hardly surprising, except perhaps for the unusually long duration, as Gasly is clearly the reference driver for the team and the only one consistently bringing the underperforming A525 into the points during this challenging 2025 season, which currently sees Alpine at the bottom of the constructors’ standings.

During this championship, Pierre Gasly has been paired with Jack Doohan for the first six races and Franco Colapinto for the following rounds. Neither driver delivered consistently strong results, prompting Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore to consider more experienced options such as Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. Ultimately, both Bottas and Perez signed with Cadillac for the 2026 season.

A two-way battle

In an interview with The Race, Flavio Briatore outlined Alpine’s current strategy: “We will choose between Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron. Paul is a very likable guy and a very fast driver. I need to figure out what is best for the team. I still need to see one or two more races; at the moment, I haven’t decided yet. I don’t see any other options on the horizon, especially because apart from Verstappen today, the rest is a bit… Today, F2 and F3 drivers might finish first in one race and fourteenth in the next; everything is very unpredictable.”