Franco Colapinto's F1 negotiations saw missed opportunities with Red Bull but led to a promising reserve driver role at Alpine.

Franco Colapinto’s manager Maria Catarineu says it “didn’t work out” with Red Bull who were interested in signing the Argentinean as Max Verstappen’s F1 2025 team-mate. Colapinto arrived on the Formula 1 grid last year as an unknown,

Franco Colapinto’s manager has revealed Red Bull had an interest in her client, but a deal which could’ve seen him

Franco Colapinto has joined Alpine as a test and reserve driver for the 2025 Formula One season after the team struck a deal to sign him from Williams. The team has maintained that Jack Doohan, who it named as Esteban Ocon’s replacement for 2025 at the end of August, is its race driver for the start of the season.

According to Catarineu, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner expressed genuine interest in Colapinto's potential, considering him either as a teammate for Max Verstappen or for the secondary Red Bull team.

Franco Colapinto has joined Formula 1 team Alpine as a reserve driver for this year after racing for Williams in 2024

Signing Colapinto is a solid bet for Alpine, but there's no question it puts a spotlight on its 2025 driver before the season even begins.

On Thursday, the BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team announced that it had reached a multi-year deal with Williams to sign Colapinto to a reserve and test driver role for this season. The move would appear to put Colapinto in line for a seat at Alpine should anything happen to—or the team decide to move on from—drivers Pierre Gasly or Jack Doohan.

Franco Colapinto has recently signed with Alpine, where he hopes to return to F1 as a full-time driver at some point of the season. Still, it could have turned out differently, as Red Bull were also interested in the Argentinian driver.