Argentine race driver Franco Colapinto still has one race to go in the 2024 season, but his chances for a 2025 seem to be shrinking by the minute. The 21-year-old had been linked with seats at several F1 teams, but the doors appear to be closing after the last couple of races.

The latest team to distance themselves from the rumors was Red Bull Racing. 

One of F1’s leading teams, the Austrian-registered outfit is said to be on the lookout for a new driver after Mexico’s Sergio Pérez scored less than half the points of newly-crowned 2024 drivers’ champion Max Verstappen.

Team principal Christian Horner and key team advisor Helmut Marko had lauded Colapinto’s performances, and a visit from the former to Williams Racing’s hospitality in Brazil fueled rumors. But both shot down the talk at last Sunday’s Qatar GP talking with racing news outlet Motorsport.

“He’s a big talent who wants a permanent spot in F1, for sure,” Horner said. But while he always has his eye on the drivers’ market, Horner said that he trusts the “strength and depth” of Red Bull’s academy and that they have “a full stable of drivers.” 

“I’m sure Franco will find a spot in the grid in the future.”

Marko was even blunter: “We’ll have a meeting after [season closer] Abu Dhabi, but Colapinto’s name isn’t high on our list.”

Another team that had been linked with the Argentine racer is Alpine. Despite announcing Australian driver Jack Doohan for 2025, key team advisor Flavio Briatore had admitted he wanted Colapinto in his driver lineup ahead of the Las Vegas GP in November. 

“Everyone wants him on their team, not just me,” he told ESPN at the time. “He’s very good. He’s under a lot of pressure and he has to take it easy, but he’s very good.”

This fueled rumors that he had no faith in Doohan and wanted to swap him with the Argentine as soon as possible.

Last Sunday, however, Alpine announced they were dropping current driver Esteban Ocon to make room for Doohan ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP, further entrenching him as a driver for the upcoming season.

The first team to kill links with Colapinto was actually the one that had an open 2025 seat for the longest, Kick Sauber. In early October, Williams Racing team principal James Vowles admitted there were talks to secure a spot for the Argentine driver. But the Audi-owned team confirmed Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto in November, ruling out any chance for Colapinto.

Recent results might’ve hurt Colapinto’s chances of a 2025 seat. After impressing in Italy, Azerbaijan and the United States, back-to-back crashes at Brazil and Las Vegas, and an unlucky start in Qatar have slowed down the 21-year-old’s mercurial rise. 

The last chance for the Argentine to impress and secure a spot next for 2025 will be in the season’s last race, the Abu Dhabi GP, from December 6 to 8.