The DRS Zone

Category: 2025

  • Colapinto to Alpine

    The Background

    Rumours circulated for a while that Franco Colapinto was going to land himself a last-minute grid slot for the 2025 season. He impressed in his short stint at Williams when he replaced Logan Sargeant, this despite smashing the car to bits on several occasions. It was announced Thursday 9th January that he would be leaving Williams and joining Alpine, not for a race seat however but as reserve driver.

    It might seem like a strange decision to go from Williams’ reserve driver to Alpine’s reserve driver, however I think there is more at play here. Let me explain.

    Firstly, Alpine appointed Flavio Briatore as “Executive Advisor of the Formula One Team”. Basically, he is the Team Principle in all but name. Briatore has been out of F1 since the crash gate scandal, he returned in 2024 to the team where he was Team Principle for many years. He runs a tight ship, doesn’t take any crap from anyone and is not afraid to wield the sword if needs be. If people think Helmut Marko is ruthless, Briatore eats him for breakfast.

    Secondly, Alpine have made a gamble this season by making Jack Doohan their second driver. Whilst Jack has impressed in F2, that does not mean he will be able to cut it in F1. We only need to look at Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant, who both did reasonably well in F2 but then really struggled in F1. Alpine also have Pierre Gasly in the other seat, it’s a big year for Gasly, I will explain more in a minute, but he is up against an Alpine junior driver who will almost very much be the “favoured son”.

    The Future

    What I think has been done here is a shrewd move by Briatore and I think that Colapinto has signed with a guaranteed race seat for 2026. Why else move? You must imagine that from Williams’ point of view it is highly unlikely that in 2026 they will not have Albon or Sainz driving their cars. So, If my theory is correct, who loses their seat at Alpine? Colapinto is also now in a great spot for this season, should Doohan not meet expectations and struggle significantly, we could well see Colapinto in that race seat after the summer break. This is also why I think this is a massive yea for Gasly. If Doohan outperforms him, Gasly could well find himself without a seat for 2026. Personally, I think Briatore is planning on a Colapinto/ Doohan lineup for 2026. Watch this space and let’s see how the season pans out.

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  • Happy New Year

    A Round Up Of The Gossip

    I hope if you are reading this you had a good Christmas and New Year and took the time to recharge and indulge. Since my last post there has been a few items of gossip worth talking about, so let’s get straight to it.

    Cheerio Checo

    Red Bull confirmed the departure of Sergio Perez from the team with Immediate effect and as expected announced Liam Lawson as his replacement. You must feel for Checo as he comes across as being a nice guy but ultimately you can’t be surprised at his departure given his form last season. F1 is a ruthless sport and Red Bull are known to be one of the more ruthless teams and arguably his results this season, or lack of them, potentially cost RB the Constructors Championship. Red Bull did however shoot themselves in the foot and made it harder by giving him the new contract just before the Canadian GP, I personally think they should have tried to go after Sainz, but I understand that Sainz Snr and Jos Verstappen don’t like each other, shock.

    He is replaced by Liam Lawson, getting the drive over Yuki Tsunoda, despite Tsunoda comfortably beating him in their head-to-head last season. For me the jury is still out on Lawson, I personally don’t think he’s shown anywhere as much as some of the other drivers that have had that second seat, but time will tell, and I may be proved wrong. I can see however, that he will likely cause sparks within the team and will possibly get his collar felt by Helmut Marko and Jos Verstappen.

    One wonders what Tsunoda must be thinking, he has done everything they have asked of him, and he has improved massively since he first entered F1. Unless Lawson fails spectacularly and gets the early axe, I think he will look elsewhere for 2026. Hard to know really where he would go, however. His best options might be Haas or trying for one of the spots with the new Cadillac team.

    What next for Checo? There is a strong possibility that we may not see him as a driver on the grid again. As with Tsunoda, spots for 2026 are already looking slim and unless there are any significant driver swaps/ moves the only real place I could see Checo ending up is either Haas or Cadillac, both teams would certainly benefit from the financial backing he brings.

    Isack Hadjar Takes The Last Seat

    With the promotion of Lawson, the young Frenchman takes the last spot on the grid. Again, for me I don’t really think this is a particularly strong choice. I have seen him in several F2 & F3 races over the last couple of years and whilst he has flashes of brilliance, he does have occasions where he goes missing or makes a lot of mistakes. For example, he had the chance to win the 2024 F2 Championship and stalled on the grid, then he had the audacity on team radio to blame the team! Time will tell and we will see how ruthless RB will be next year if he does not perform.

    Bottas Returns To Mercedes

    Another one to lose his seat at the end of 2024, Bottas is returning to Mercedes to be their reserve driver. Smart move for me, he did well when he was alongside Hamilton and will bring some experience that Antonelli can learn from for next season. He is also in prime position should Antonelli fail to deliver anything but the car back in bits.

    Hamilton Starts At Ferrari

    Finally, as its the start of a new year, that means that Hamilton has officially now joined Ferrari, despite the hoopla that surrounded him in Abu Dhabi he has not left the sport and will be donning the red overalls this season.

    What’s To Come?

    For F1 next up is the fancy multi-team reveal of their 2025 cars/ liveries in London. It’s more likely to be a livery reveal than an actual car launch.

    For me over the next couple of weeks I will be releasing my review and thoughts of 2024 team by team. I will start from the back of the grid and move forward. Looking forward to starting to add more now we are in 2025, evolving and hopefully growing. To stay up to date please subscribe (its free) and drop a like on the post.

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