Alpine's Gabriele Mini Set for F1 Debut at Mexican Grand Prix

Gabriele Mini is set to take the wheel for Alpine during the first practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix, marking his debut in an official Formula 1 weekend. The Italian driver will step in for Franco Colapinto, fulfilling Alpine's commitment to give rookies a chance this season, following Paul Aron's prior outings in Hungary and Italy.

Mini joined the Alpine Academy in 2023 and competed in the Formula 3 championship with Hitech Pulse-Eight, finishing seventh. He then moved to Prema, finishing as runner-up to McLaren's Leonardo Fornaroli, before advancing to Formula 2. Now in his second season and racing with MP Motorsport, Mini has made a mark by winning the Miami feature race and the Sprint in Hungary, placing him fourth in the standings.

Having participated in Alpine's Testing of Previous Cars programme in July, Mini is now poised to drive the current A526 model at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. "I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the A526 and taking part in my first ever Free Practice 1 in Formula One," Mini remarked. He expressed gratitude to the Alpine team for the opportunity and highlighted his preparation work on the simulator and with engineers at Enstone.

Mini joins a handful of other young drivers making their F1 weekend debut in Mexico, including Freddie Slater with Audi, Leonardo Fornaroli with McLaren, Frederik Vesti with Mercedes, and Luke Browning with Williams. Browning expressed his enthusiasm for returning to the FW48, noting the importance of each session for his development and the team's progress. "Each session teaches you something new, and I will take every bit of learning I can from this to help keep pushing my development and the team forward," he said.