Franco Colapinto has admitted his initial five-race run at Alpine is not enough time to get fully on top of its Formula 1 car but he hopes to make quick progress as he replaces Jack Doohan.
Colapinto only joined Alpine in January as test and reserve driver but now steps into a race seat alongside Pierre Gasly for round seven of the 2025 season at Imola.
Alpine has confirmed Colapinto for five races - the triple-header beginning this weekend then the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix - and will re-evaluate its line-up before July's British GP.
In an assured, relaxed appearance in one of the Thursday FIA press conferences at Imola ahead of his Alpine debut, Colapinto spoke calmly about how he intends to build up "step by step" and "do the basics right".
"I have a great opportunity here: I'm happy to be back in F1, I don't even think about five races," he said.
"I'm just, in a happy place, and I am dealing with it very well at the moment, I just want to get back in the seat and drive.
"Of course, after you heard Carlos [Sainz] saying that he needs like 10 races to get used to a car, I think five is not enough for me. If I even drove nine in all my life in F1!
"So, yeah, it probably takes me a few more races - probably a couple more than five to get up to speed and maximise everything out of the car.
"But it is what I have, I just want to maximise it, enjoy it and try to do the best for the team."
The short-term nature of the agreement as it has been described publicly, and the fact threats to the seat still exist in the background, make this a high-stakes situation for Colapinto.
Doohan remains part of the team as its priority reserve driver, and will hope to get back on the grid if Colapinto struggles to impress and funding from Latin America does not materialise - while another option for Alpine to consider is Paul Aron.
On the other hand, though, Colapinto now has the chance to secure the seat for himself, which is something he could not do on his stand-in appearances at Williams last year because its long-term driver line-up was already set. And he is clearly approaching it in an enthusiastic state of mind.
"I'm really happy here," he said. "I'm in a happy place and have a really good relationship with the engineers, with the mechanics. Everyone around the team has been very supportive and I’m really happy to be here.
"So excited to start the work. Of course, new faces, new names, everything on the set-up, on the settings, everything is new and different.
"We need to adjust to it, but I'm sure we're going to do a good job."
Colapinto's nine-race Williams stint last year began with a sudden introduction at short notice between the Dutch and Italian GPs taking place back-to-back.
He handled that baptism of fire well and scored points twice, although crashes and some trickier weekends against team-mate Alex Albon meant his part-season peaked early in terms of results.
That experience, and the fact this Alpine chance was more anticipated in advance, makes this opportunity less frenetic and daunting as Colapinto knows what to expect.
"Last year everything was new and it was very tricky to take in all the information," said Colapinto.
"Now I'm only six races behind everyone that has been racing already, evolution-wise, tyre-related, I just don't have the knowledge of those first six races. But I'm much closer than last year.
"Last year I had zero experience. I hadn't had any testing. I just had 300km of running in an F1 car before I drove in Monza. It was much trickier. I felt more pressure there, just because everything was new.
"This year, just having that extra experience, having that knowledge of having already raced in Formula 1 is going to help me a bit."
Colapinto's previous team Williams has effectively allowed Alpine to sign him and make him its driver for a certain period of time within the longer-term Williams contract he signed last year.
Williams team boss James Vowles said it was willing to allow that on the basis Alpine was the best way for Colapinto to get on the grid in the short-term.
Speaking this week, Vowles backed Colapinto to cope with a difficult situation well.
"What you saw with us is he got up to speed very quickly," said Vowles.
"I know he's immensely quick. So I think irrespective of whatever deadline they've set he'll do a good job in that period of time.
"Is it [Alpine] in a turbulent time? Yes, no doubt about it. Will they be supportive to Pierre and Franco? Yes, I think they will as well, because they're still the elite athletes that are driving for them in order to score the most points you can.
"So what normally happens, even in a turbulent time, is you still support your drivers. I actually think the learning is invaluable, whether it's in that team or elsewhere.
"A, it's time on track. B, it's time in a difficult environment. And if you come out of it, you'll only be stronger as a result.
"And Franco is strong, so I think it's still the right place for him to be at this stage."
