Briatore on Colapinto: 'For the future, honestly, I don’t know'

Briatore: “Maybe I missed something”

Although there are still ten rounds left in 2025, there has been extensive coverage on Franco Colapinto.

His mid-season arrival at Alpine, though somewhat abrupt, was largely foreseen at the beginning of the year.

The youngster signed a multi-year deal with Alpine in January, which was a clear indication of the Enstone team’s investment in his services.

Alpine’s swift demotion of Doohan, whose rookie campaign was at least respectable, added to this sentiment.

However, things have not gone to plan for Colapinto.

Fundamentally, the 22-year-old is driving what has been the slowest car on average in 2025.

This means points have rarely been attainable, even when outperforming teammate Pierre Gasly.

Whilst Colapinto is not to blame for this, it has meant that his mistakes (spins, crashes) are more likely to spark conversations than anything else.

When asked if Mick Schumacher was one of Alpine’s options for 2026, Briatore gave the following response:

“And maybe Colapinto, [is facing] the same problem as what Toto said – too much pressure to be in Formula 1.

“Last year, he had two or three races with James [Vowles at Williams], where he did very well.

“But maybe to be in the team, with a good driver like Pierre, and always in competition with the team-mate – maybe we put too much pressure on him.

“I think we need to consider that… The driver is a human being, and we need to understand what’s going on in the heads of these kids.

“These are young kids – 19, 20, 22, 23 years old.

“And I think it’s out mistake to underestimate the human part of the driver.”

Immediately after these introspective comments, Briatore issued a reminder that nothing is guaranteed for Colapinto:

“We’re always looking at the timing.

“Maybe I missed something in the management of the driver, Colapinto.

“For the future, honestly, I don’t know.”

Question marks unlikely to dissipate at Alpine

As Briatore eluded to in his response, F1 is often dictated by timing.

For young drivers in particular, the circumstances of your debut can change be career-defining.

In the case of Colapinto, there were very low expectations when he first jumped into the Williams last year.

When he finished in the points in Baku, therefore, the narrative surrounding him took a complete U-turn.

Whilst this initially catapulted his market value, it meant Colapinto was under heightened scrutiny.

This created an equal reaction in the opposite direction after some of his crashes, most notably in Brazil and Las Vegas.

Fast-forward to this year, and Colapinto was expected to perform at a high level immdiately.

Despite being put into the car with virtually no preparation, the 22-year-old needed big results to justify suggestions that Doohan was dropped prematurely.

Once again, this is not something the Argentine can directly control. His overall performances compared to Gasly have been decent, particularly when put in context.

Ultimately, however, this does not guarantee anything when Flavio Briatore is making the final decisions.

Consequently, the Alpine driver must work to perform at a consistently high level – in the hope that he will be in a position to score points and ease some of the pressure on his shoulders.