Jacques Villeneuve identifies major problem overshadowing Franco Colapinto

Jacques Villeneuve believes Franco Colapinto is a "crasher", which could overshadow his five-race audition for a race seat at Alpine. 

Colapinto has been drafted in to replace Jack Doohan for at least five races, up to and including the Austrian GP as partner to Pierre Gasly.

During his nine-race spell at Williams after replacing Logan Sargeant in 2024, Colapinto proved he had the pace, scoring five points, but suffered a multitude of huge crashes. 

Colapinto crashed in practice in Azerbaijan, and then wrote off two cars after crashing in the wet in Brazil and in qualifying in Las Vegas.

He also suffered his first crash at Alpine during his Imola, with his Q1 session ending with a major shunt into the barrier.

Whilst Villeneuve believes Colapinto is "fast", he felt it was a 50-50 decision as to what Colapinto would arrive. 

"He is fast, but he is also a crasher, so which Franco will we get?," Villeneuve mused to Sky Sports F1. 

"It is always a toss of the dice, you just don't know.

"So will he be able to be as fast without crashing, or will he have to slow down to not crash? That is the big question.

"But we will find out, because he's had a year to digest last season. He's got backing, so he is already bringing something to the table that the previous driver wasn't."

A boost for Colapinto

Jamie Chadwick, the three-time W Series champion and Indy NXT race-winner added that the fact the season was now headed towards classic European races, should help Colapinto. 

"What is good for him now is that he is at the European tracks, and has done a lot in the junior categories," she said.

"He wouldn't have known Austin, he had Singapore, tracks which are really challenging, so in that sense, I think it is going to be easier for him, but he has really got to hammer down as a race driver.

"Now he can't show flashes of speed, he's got to show complete weekend performances, get those points for the team, and that will make the difference if he can make it for the rest of the year."