Argentine race driver Franco Colapinto accomplished a major feat in last Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, earning his first-ever Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship points as an Alpine F1 driver.

Despite never having raced at the Shanghai International Circuit, the 22-year-old ran as high as he ever had in an F1 race. 

He managed to snatch second place after a safety car on lap 11 saw most cars dive to the pits and held on for four laps before tire wear made it untenable. He also was able to keep his composure and stay close after a clash with Haas F1’s Esteban Ocon, which left his car with floor damage and limited the gains he could make after that.

Colapinto’s auspicious second outing in 2026 is a major step forward for the Argentine driver, as he continues to prove himself in the racing world’s top category. What happens now?

The Alpine A526 is fast, in the right conditions

The race at the Shanghai International Circuit offered a contrasting picture to the season opener at Melbourne. 

After the pedal-to-the-metal Australian track raised doubts about whether this new generation of F1 cars could sustain pace for a grand prix length, China’s long straights and hard braking zones allowed for faster racing.

It benefited Alpine and Colapinto, who were able to extract the most from their Mercedes powerplant and got some of the Bahrain test runs’ feel-good back.

“What a race and a great day for the team with both cars in the points. I’m happy to score my first points for Alpine,” the Argentine driver told the Alpine F1 media team. “There was good teamwork out there today and some enjoyable battles out on the track.”

The Argentine did not hide his frustration with the end result, however, claiming the safety car ruined his long-term strategy for the race. 

Colapinto was running on hard tires, which are slower but last longer, meaning that when most cars pitted under the safety car — which loses less time than those on the track — it cost him.

He also highlighted how the crash with Ocon meant he “didn’t quite have enough pace or laps left to get [9th place Carlos Sainz] at the end,” assuring “extra points were literally in [Alpine’s] grasp.”

Briatore is happy with Colapinto (for now)

The result in China comes as a much-needed validation for Colapinto, ending a run of 24 races without scoring.

The Argentine racer is coming off a dreadful 2025 season. His debut campaign with the Renault-owned team was plagued by an undercompetitive car, team mistakes, and individual blunders, making it impossible to replicate what he had achieved in only his second race back in 2024.

It all got worse when last year’s struggles were aired to the world in Netflix’s F1 docuseries Drive to Survive, featuring clips of Alpine F1 team boss Flavio Briatore giving harsh talks to the Argentine driver.

The Italian seems to have tempered his approach, at least when the cameras are rolling. Clips of him offering support to Colapinto emerged after he missed a spot in Q3 — the deciding stage of Saturday’s qualifying — by just 0.005 seconds. He also took part in the celebrations as the team had both cars finish in the points for the first time since 2024.

It brings stability to the garage at a time when Colapinto and Alpine most need it.

Is the F1 unexpected hiatus a blessing in disguise?

The F1 circus heads now to Suzuka, where the Japanese Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, March 29. This is another track where Colapinto has no previous experience; its sweeping, fast corners will likely bring issues like Australia, and chances are it won’t be as successful a race for Alpine.

The two-week gap until Japan will undoubtedly allow teams to do some development of their cars. Down the line, however, here’s an even longer, unplanned hiatus that could shake the field up.

On Saturday, F1 confirmed the Bahrain GP and Saudi Arabia GP — originally scheduled for April 12 and 19 — will not take place due to the escalating conflict in the area. Plans were drawn up to replace the races, but the organizing body eventually dropped them.

This will leave a 49-day gap between races, a longer stretch than F1’s European summer break between July’s Hungarian GP and August’s Dutch GP.

From Alpine’s point of view, it’s a mixed bag. As the preseason tests showed, Bahrain’s long straights and hard-braking zones — similar to those in Shanghai — favored the A526 and could’ve been a great chance for more points. 

However, such a long hiatus will give engineers time to review the data collected in Australia, China, and Japan and develop major upgrades. With Mercedes-powered cars running the show in F1 at the moment, a shake-up of the field could see Alpine come out better than ever.

© Buenos Aires Herald