Aug.30 (GMM) Flavio Briatore admits Alpine is losing patience with Franco Colapinto, even as the rookie insists he still has more to show in the second half of the 2025 season.
The 21-year-old Argentine was prised from Williams on loan after Alpine advisor Briatore convinced Renault to pay heavily for the deal. But after a difficult first stint, Briatore is questioning the timing.
“These cars are very, very heavy, very quick,” he said. “And for a young driver to be put in Formula 1, maybe it was not the timing to have Franco in Formula 1. Maybe he needs another year or two.
“He tries very hard with the engineers to please them in everything, but it’s not what I expect from Colapinto. Maybe it was too much pressure.
“For the future, honestly, I don’t know.”
Colapinto, however, told reporters at Zandvoort he is determined to fight for his place. “I will be racing on tracks that I already know well and have experience of driving an F1 car on them,” he said. “I hope familiar tracks will allow me to feel more confident and add speed.”
But for Alpine, the picture for 2026 remains uncertain. The one clear priority is to retain Pierre Gasly. “At the moment, we are negotiating with Pierre to extend the contract,” Briatore told Canal Plus. “It’s the cornerstone from which we have to start. After that, we’ll see what happens.
“But we are very happy with Pierre. It doesn’t always show in his results, but he is very efficient with the car he has.
“With Franco, for next year, we haven’t decided yet. Everything remains open. We still have ten races to decide.”
Briatore also denied growing rumours of a Renault sell-off involving himself, Bernie Ecclestone and Christian Horner. “I don’t consider anything at the moment,” he said. “Christian is not in Formula 1 in this moment anymore.
“I hope he comes back soon. But for the moment, he’s not in the picture of the team.”
Even so, Briatore found the idea at least entertaining. “The sharks,” he joked. “The shark media.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff liked the sound of it too. “That would be an exciting story and good content,” he smiled. “Formula 1 has always been about the best racing, with exciting drivers and great personalities. And when you look back at the grand era of team owners and team principals – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Flavio, Montezemolo – maybe we need to work on that.”
In the meantime, Briatore will soon hand over more operational responsibility at Enstone to Steve Nielsen, who is returning to the team to fill the gap suddenly left by Oliver Oakes. “It’s not just one job I expect from Steve,” he confirmed. “I expect Steve to be in charge from A to Z.”
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