Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore questions Franco Colapinto’s pace and pressure as rookie struggles to impress in early F1 races.
Flavio Briatore admits he is still “not satisfied” with Franco Colapinto’s performance at Alpine F1.
The team dropped rookie Jack Doohan after just six races this year to bring in another slightly more experienced rookie (from Williams in 2024), 21-year-old Colapinto, who is heavily backed by Argentine sponsors, into the second A525 cockpit.
So far, he has disappointed his main supporter, Briatore, the team’s executive advisor.
“He crashed the car during the first race weekend. He was a second behind Pierre Gasly in Monaco and even here during practice. If I said I was happy, it would be a lie. I’m not happy at all.”
When Alpine officially announced the Doohan-Colapinto swap, the team stated that the Argentine was only guaranteed five races. Briatore quickly denied that. However, it remains unclear exactly how long Colapinto will stay.
Some say Briatore wants to recover at least part of the 20 million dollars he invested by taking Colapinto from Williams through support from Argentine sponsors.
“We’ll have to see how the season goes for him. We also have to acknowledge that Franco is very young and under a lot of pressure from all sides, not just from Argentina. This is his first real race in Barcelona, and we’ll see what he’s capable of.”
“In this job, you have to be able to build confidence as quickly as possible. I hope he manages to do that and gets back on the right track.”
Strangely, fresh rumors in the paddock suggest Briatore may now be considering a potential F1 return for Mick Schumacher, Alpine’s top driver in WEC.
“I don’t think that’s the question to ask here. I don’t want to talk about it.”
2016 world champion Nico Rosberg interprets this as a clear warning to Colapinto.
“Colapinto is currently on the wrong side of Flavio’s mind, and you don’t want to be in that position. Flavio completely ignores his number two drivers. He absolutely doesn’t care. And he treats his number ones like puppies, so it’s pretty extreme from Flavio.”
Mick Schumacher’s uncle, Ralf, knows how close the relationship between his brother Michael and Briatore was, and senses an opportunity may be opening up for Mick.
“He wants to build the best team possible for 2026. He’s now giving drivers a chance to prove themselves, and then he’ll make his decision. It’s obviously brutal for a driver. If you did that to Lando Norris, he’d be driving backwards. Flavio isn’t a boss for everyone. He’s tough, and it’s no fun for a young man.”
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