Formula 1 is warming up its engines: why Franco Colapinto will not be at the Bahrain tests

The first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the year is drawing ever closer, but before then, all teams will take part in pre-season testing in Bahrain between Wednesday and Friday. With expectations high, all regular drivers will have the opportunity to test their cars on the Sakhir circuit.

After revealing the 2025 liveries last week in London, the cars that will star in the 75th edition of the FIA ​​Formula 1 Championship are slowly starting to go into action. For its part, Alpine took to the track for the first time with the A525 on Monday under the command of Pierre Gasly . According to Motorsport , the French team has already decided the order in which its two main drivers will participate in the tests.

On Wednesday morning, Australian Jack Doohan will open the first day of testing, while Gasly will take control of the A525 in the afternoon session. On Thursday it will be the other way around, and on Friday the same pattern as on the first day will be repeated. In this way, they will comply with the regulatory restrictions that allow teams to have only one driver on track at a time during testing.

Franco Colapinto , who joined the French team in January this year as a reserve driver, will not take part in the tests in Bahrain, as they are aimed at regular drivers. Despite not being present at the tests, the Argentine driver's talent has the confidence of Flavio Briatore . "We need to see his development during this season. He has plenty of time to test. We must be patient because he is very young," declared the Alpine executive advisor.

He also stressed that he does not have any preference among the team's three reserve drivers, made up of Colapinto, Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa . "I'm not pushing for Colapinto, we have three athletes in his role. Aron and Colapinto are very, very fast," he said in an interview with the newspaper AS.

The Formula 1 season will kick off with the Australian Grand Prix, which takes place from March 14 to 16 at Melbourne's Albert Park.