Isack Hadjar’s F1 hopes boosted as Red Bull’s interest in Franco Colapinto cools

Isack Hadjar could be in line to make his F1 debut with VCARB as Red Bull’s interest in Franco Colapinto has cooled.

As per The Race and AMuS, Colapinto’s stock has diminished in recent weeks after Red Bull and Alpine expressed interest in the Argentine.

Colapinto’s impressive early performances for Williams, replacing Logan Sargeant at Monza, caught the interest of both Red Bull and Alpine.

In Red Bull’s case, should they finally decide to get rid of Sergio Perez - or the Mexican decides for himself he’s had enough - they would need a driver to fill in at either the main team or junior team.

Red Bull weren't totally convinced by Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson, which made Colapinto an interesting option.

There were also suggestions that Perez’s Mexican backers - Carlos Slim’s Telmex - could have aligned with Colapinto and thus filled the financial void left by a driver swap if Colapinto was the replacement.

If Red Bull opted to replace Perez with either Tsunoda or Lawson, then Colapinto could have joined VCARB.

However, their interest in Colapinto has faded amid a number of difficult races for him at Williams.

Unforced errors and a lack of pace relative to Alex Albon, combined with a reported release fee of around £20 million has put Red Bull off Colapinto.

As a result, if a vacancy opens at VCARB for next season, it should be filled by Hadjar.

Hadjar is part of the Red Bull set up and is in Formula 2 title contention.

While Red Bull aren’t entirely convinced he’s a world champion of the future, he’s next in line and would be deserving of an opportunity.

Alpine lose interest as well

Alpine and Flavio Briatore explored the option of bringing Colapinto to Enstone.

Even though they have signed Jack Doohan for next year, whose set to make his F1 debut in place of Esteban Ocon at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Colapinto’s form caught the eye of Briatore.

However, for now at least, Doohan looks to be safe heading into 2025.

In all in all it should mean Colapinto is on the sidelines for the early months of next year.

But should there be an opportunity open somewhere on the grid, he will be towards the top of the team's wish list if they need a driver mid-season.