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."
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."
The post Franco Colapinto defends Flavio Briatore as jeopardy over F1 future looms appeared first on RacingNews365.