Franco Colapinto is set to continue driving for Alpine's Formula 1 team beyond the Austrian Grand Prix and his initial five-race evaluation.
Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan after six rounds of the 2025 season as Alpine sought to assess the driver it had signed from Williams over the winter.
Alpine said this was done in order to judge its driver options as effectively as possible before 2026, when it hopes to make a step forward in competitiveness under new rules and with a Mercedes customer engine.
Doohan, an Alpine junior for several years, was given his first F1 race seat this season although made his debut early in the 2024 finale.
He did not score points, although team-mate Pierre Gasly only finished in the top 10 once in a grand prix - in Bahrain - and scored a point in the Miami sprint during their time together.
Despite Alpine's uncompetitiveness being a key factor in Doohan's results, Alpine felt his speed and his run of incidents - including two race-ending first-lap clashes in six races - was grounds to try Colapinto.
The Argentinian impressed at the start of a Williams part-season last year and there is significant Latin American commercial potential to tap into too.
He was drafted in from the Imola round in May, on what was announced by Alpine as a five-race evaluation, although team boss Flavio Briatore subsequently denied there was a set limit.
Colapinto crashed out of qualifying at Imola, and struggled across the next two races in the triple-header too. He had a more competitive weekend in Canada, even though he is still yet to score points.
While this weekend's Austria race is theoretically the end of the evaluation Alpine initially mooted, it is understood Colapinto will race at Silverstone in next weekend's British GP and continue in the seat unless something significant changes.
Colapinto will continue on effectively a race-by-race basis. There is not expected to be a new evaluation period set or number of races defined.
He indicated on Thursday in Austria that he would be in the car at Silverstone as he referenced driving there for the first time in F1 a year ago when he took part in free practice for Williams.
"To be doing my first FP1 with the team and doing a good job there next to Alex [Albon] was really good for my future and probably what put me in that situation to jump in later in the year," he said.
"It was a very important weekend, and to be able to have that comparison now in the same track I've been driving the Williams last year, it's good.
"It's a bit more knowledge, a bit more experience. It obviously comes easier as well when you already drove an F1 at that track.
"You don't get that shock of speed. So, yeah, looking forward to Silverstone, too, it's a great track, full of high-speed, and I love driving there."
Colapinto's performance and his work off-track has led Alpine to conclude that its priority must be to improve its car rather than keep changing drivers.
That position is unfortunate for Doohan, who was not afforded the same patience in ultimately the same circumstances and remains in the picture as a reserve driver.
However, one argument for Colapinto has always been that he did not have the same familiarity with the team and car, or the level of preparation, as Doohan and that his potential may be higher.
Canada was better on paper although his defeat of Gasly for the first time was flattered by Q1 circumstances and there was a sense that a Q3 result and points were possible, so Colapinto still slightly underachieved versus the car's potential.
He admitted at the Red Bull Ring that it is "important" he has a better Friday, having trailed Gasly significantly in FP1 and FP2 through his Alpine stint so far, which has often left him with too much work to do over the rest of the weekend.
When asked by The Race about that, Colapinto said: "We are really focusing on Friday, having a good day, starting with a base and with a car that we think works and trying to take the positive things that we found the last couple of races and bring them to here.
"It's important, Friday, you kind of build your momentum for the rest of the weekend.
"In general just to be good in Canada on that Saturday, it brought good things for us, it brought good understandings, and we're just trying to keep working hard and trying to understand which direction we have to go in.
"But the car is feeling better, just more connected and I'm more comfortable in the Alpine. It's good news, just trying to bring it in from Canada to here."
