May 6 (GMM) Flavio Briatore says Franco Colapinto has now reached the level Alpine expects “every race weekend” after the Argentine delivered arguably his strongest Formula 1 performance yet in Miami.
The result comes weeks after the Drive to Survive footage emerged showing Briatore angrily confronting Colapinto during the difficult 2025 season. “You are the problem!” the Italian was seen shouting at the young driver.
Colapinto brushed off the incident.
“Flav has been, with me, very helpful in every way, and he gave me a great opportunity,” he said. “I don’t even know when it was filmed, but probably he was right at the time.”
“When he shouts at me, there is normally a reason for it.”
The 22-year-old’s mixed form continued into 2026, but Miami may have been the turning point. Colapinto scored a career-best P7 as Alpine emerged as the surprise package behind the top four teams.
“Franco was very, very good all weekend,” Briatore told Fox Sports Argentina. “He did good in qualifying, and today was very solid with no mistakes.
“We are happy because now, we are clearly P5. We were just behind Ferrari, we finished seven seconds behind Lewis, and 20 seconds in front of Sainz. This was my target.”
“Franco is driving very well, there was no pressure, and no mistakes.”
“It was super, and this is what I expect from Franco.”
Briatore also made clear he never doubted his decision to keep the Argentine in the car despite criticism earlier in the year.
“I’ve believed in Franco the whole time,” he said. “When I put him in the car, a lot of people in the beginning asked me – you know the story. But I was right, and we kept going.”
“In this team, I decide, so I decided to keep Franco, and now he’s started paying me back.”
The Alpine boss also praised the atmosphere inside the team.
“The relationship between these two is super,” Briatore said, referring to Colapinto and teammate Pierre Gasly, who had a scary rollover crash on Sunday in Miami.
“Now everybody realises that Franco has the potential to be a super driver.”
Colapinto commented on his Miami result: “I think since I got to F1 it’s been my most perfect weekend.”
After struggling earlier in the season, he said Alpine’s upgrades transformed the picture. “The team did a very big effort to bring new parts for the cars, bring upgrades, new chassis,” Colapinto explained.
“When you have the pace, suddenly everything becomes much easier.”
Briatore, however, immediately warned Miami must now become the norm rather than an exception.
“Franco has rounded off a really good week where he has performed at the level we expect him to be at every race weekend,” he said.
“The car is competitive and it is these performances we need week in, week out.”
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