Franco Colapinto secured his best-ever F1 result: What comes next?

Argentine racer Franco Colapinto secured his best-ever finish in a Formula 1 Grand Prix at Miami: after crossing the line 8th, he was later promoted to 7th.  The development capped a thrilling weekend for Colapinto at Miami. The 22-year-old started out by hosting Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi at the Alpine F1 box, then matched his best-ever qualifying in the sprint race on Saturday.  He later managed to reach the final qualification stage (known as Q3) for the first time with Alpine colors and ran a great race on Sunday. Wrapping proceedings at 8th, the Argentine driver benefited from a time penalty after the race for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to climb that extra position to 7th. “It has been a good week overall; from Buenos Aires a week ago to meeting one of my sporting heroes in Lionel Messi and now points in the Miami Grand Prix, I am definitely pleased,” Colapinto said after the race. He went on to thank “the whole team for their effort,” saying he knows “the hard work will continue to Montréal next time out, where [Alpine] will aim to continue this form and score more points.” Here are our three biggest takeaways from the 2026 Miami GP. Colapinto adding consistency to his daredevil style There have never been many doubts that Franco Colapinto has the talent to drive an F1 car. Issues, however, have been raised regarding his consistency and racecraft.  Making his 2024 debut aboard a destitute Williams F1 team fighting for scraps with very limited material, Colapinto’s daredevil style came very much to the front page.  However, a rookie driver racing for a team fighting not to end last was never going to highlight the steadier side of racing. This was a side of the Argentine driver that became somewhat exposed in his first season under Alpine colors last year. The occasional mistakes and the struggles to outperform his machinery outside of car-to-car fights left many wondering if his breakthrough in 2024 hadn’t been more of a mirage. Colapinto’s performance at the 2026 Miami GP silenced many of those doubts.  He came out of the gates blasting and earned several positions after turn one. He then had a close fight with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, resulting in contact.  But he also maximized most of his options while running in a lonely eighth place in a low-intensity moment. He showed smart racecraft by choosing not to fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the middle of the race while the Dutch four-time champ was on a charge. It showed Colapinto is not just there for the big flashy moments but can also be relied on to bring it home when it matters. The F1 grid is tighter than it was in March The 2026 F1 season started with a clear favorite to win it all in the Mercedes GP team, with very few encouraging signs from other teams.  Not only was the German team’s power plant vastly superior to everything else on the track,  their superior optimization and packing with the brand-new 2026 chassis meant not even customer teams — Alpine among them — could compete.  Thirty five days later, it’s looking like a different story. While the Miami GP ended in a third straight win for Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, it was a much closer-fought affair. The time spent in the factories helped teams develop and push their cars forward. For Alpine, which appears to be one of the teams that improved its performance, a closer grid means more chances for lucky breaks and opportunistic moves. Don’t be surprised if Colapinto earning points on a weekend becomes a more regular occurrence.  Things look good for the future Colapinto’s first point-earning finish of the season, a 10th place in China, came on the back of two factors.  First, a solid, undeterred performance by the Argentine driver. Second, a track that allowed for the Mercedes powerplant in the back of the Alpine to reload more consistently than at the season opener in Australia. While the Miami track — with its three long straights connected by heavy braking sections — certainly helped the Alpine A526, success on Miami’s very tight and narrow section between turns 11 and 16 shows not only Colapinto’s swift hands but also improvement in the car. It bears well not only for upcoming power tracks in the calendar, such as Canada, Austria, and Great Britain, but also for tight, lockdown tracks like Monaco and Hungary as the European swing approaches.