Franco Colapinto defends Flavio Briatore as jeopardy over F1 future looms

Franco Colapinto has credited hard-nosed Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore for making "a lot stronger" through a difficult first season with Team Enstone.

The Argentine driver joined the French squad from Williams over the winter, initially as a reserve, before being parachuted in to replace Jack Doohan after just six rounds.

The latter was under pressure from the moment the former arrived, but Colapinto has also underwhelmed and has not represented a significant upgrade, if at all. 

It has left him in a precarious position and fighting for his future with not only the team, but also in F1.

Briatore, the de facto team principal at Alpine, was a vocal supporter of the 22-year-old and the driving force behind his move from Williams.

However, the Italian has increasingly expressed his dissatisfaction with Colapinto's performances. 11 rounds into his campaign, he is yet to get off the mark. In contrast, team-mate Pierre Gasly has scored all 20 of the team's points this term.

Despite the scrutiny and mounting pressure, Colapinto defended the 75-year-old's approach on a recent episode of F1's Beyond the Grid podcast, saying: "I have a very good relationship [with Briatore].

"He is hard with everyone. His way of making the team work and making the people motivated is sometimes a bit hard, and sometimes it can feel a little bit too much if you don't know him.

"But he is someone I really believe in and someone that I believe is going to move this team forward and is going to put Alpine back at the top. I learned a lot from him this year. He made me a lot stronger.

"He made me strong mentally and I do believe that years like this, when it starts to become better and when we start to win, to have good results, to be fighting at the top, it's what makes a difference, so I'm very grateful for the opportunity he gave me, but also for all this process that we are going through."

Focus on '25, not '26

Colapinto was thrust into a race seat at Williams midway through last season, being handed a nine-round cameo after the overdue firing of Logan Sargeant.

Despite the unexpected promotion, he initially impressed, scoring points in Baku and Austin. However, his form waned, and a crash-strewn end to the year put off reported interest from Red Bull.

The Alpine driver can see the parallels between the difficult conclusion to his 2024 season and his current situation.

"When I joined [Williams], I had a lot of pressure," said Colapinto. "I was jumping into Formula 1 with no knowledge, and I feel that that was the time I had the most pressure ever in my career, when I started racing in Formula 1. So, after that, I felt that nothing could beat me.

"When it goes well, it's very easy, and it's also tricky to learn much. When it goes bad, when you're in the bottom, it's much easier to learn and to become stronger.

"I think that's what happened after that tricky end to the year in ’24, it also gave me a lot more strength, and I learned a lot more things. And this year, by having a difficult start, also made me a lot stronger.

"I feel that now I could capitalise on those things and become much tougher, which is good for the future, good for when we actually can be at the top, and I think it's going to be really helpful."

Despite Colapinto's wayward form book, he is still in contention to retain his Alpine seat. Briatore has publicly declared that it is between the Argentine and reserve driver Paul Aron to partner Gasly in 2026.

As the incumbent, Colapinto has the advantage. But he insists he is not yet thinking about his future, instead putting his efforts into finishing the current campaign strong.

"I don't know, and I'm not really focused too much on that," he replied when asked about his future and when Alpine might make its decision. "I think I want to keep building on this year.

"There is more to learn and I have much more to find, but I'm feeling better in the car, in the team, and I'm feeling that we are doing a good job together.

"Of course, there is no secret that the car is not where we want it to be, and it's not good enough at the moment to win the points, but it will come the time that it is, and I want to be ready for that, so that's, to me, the main focus at the moment.

"Go race by race and moment by moment, and let's see where we end up. But just happy to be here, and let's see how it continues, this chapter."