Colapinto made his debut at the Italian Grand Prix in early September and impressed Williams and rival teams with the speed of his adaptation to F1.
The interest of many Argentine sponsors looking to support Colapinto increased his attractiveness to teams.
Red Bull considered signing him to its second Racing Bulls team in 2025 and held talks with Williams about a release, but their interest waned after Colapinto’s series of accidents in races in Brazil and Las Vegas.
However, Alpine maintained the pursuit and tempted him with a long-term contract.
Thursday’s announcement made no mention of a potential race seat for Colapinto, but his joining Alpine increases the pressure on their rookie driver Jack Doohan, who has signed for a 2025 race seat alongside Pierre Gasly.
The Frenchman, who won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull’s second team, has joined Alpine for 2023 and last year it signed a new contract that is valid until at least the end of 2026.
Doohan, the son of five-time MotoGP champion Mick Doohan, made his race debut at the final 2024 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi as Alpine looked to optimize its preparations for its debut season.
The 21-year-old qualified last and finished 15th, while Gasly was sixth at the start and seventh in the race. In the first part of qualifying, Doohan was almost 0.5 seconds behind Gasly before he was knocked out.
The signing of Colapinto gives Briatore and Oakes an option if Doohan fails to meet expectations during the season.
The recruitment of Japanese Hirakawa was announced on Thursday, along with Estonian Aron, who was third in Formula 2 last year.
The 30-year-old, who was McLaren’s development driver last year, will take part in the team’s first training sessions ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix on April 4.
Testing Previous Car (TPC) programs allow teams to run non-F1 drivers in cars that are at least two years old and are becoming more common amid F1’s restrictions on testing current machinery.
