Briatore says he's 'not happy' with Colapinto performance

Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore has conceded that he is currently "not happy" with the performance of his driver Franco Colapinto after a difficult first half of the season.

Colapinto replaced Australian rookie Jack Doohan ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May, with the initial announcement suggesting he had five rounds to prove himself.

Eight weekends into his season, and the Argentinian remains without a point, and 20th in the standings, ahead of only Doohan based on a countback of 13th place finishes – the best result secured by either driver.

Asked what he needs to see from Colapinto for the 22-year-old to retain his seat into 2026, Briatore said: “I think I have seen everything already. I don’t think I need to see anything anymore.

“It’s very difficult for a driver to cope with this car. These cars are very, very heavy, very, very quick, and for the young drivers to be put into Formula 1 – maybe it was not the time to have Franco in Formula 1. Maybe he needed another one year to be part of Formula 1.

“I’m not happy. What is important is the result. He tried very hard, and we tried very hard with the engineers to please him with everything, but really, it's not what I expect from Colapinto.”

Although Colapinto has managed to reach the second phase of Qualifying on numerous occasions, he currently trails team mate Pierre Gasly 6-2 in the Saturday sessions. In Grands Prix, the rookie is only 5-3 behind, but the margin is exaggerated with two points scores – including a sixth place – for Gasly in the last three weekends.

When pressed on whether Alpine could look to make a further driver change this term, Briatore was non-committal in his response and pointed to the struggles faced by Kimi Antonelli, another rookie.

“We changed Doohan with Franco Colapinto, and maybe Colapinto has the same problems [as Antonelli] with too much pressure in Formula 1,” he added.

“Last year he had two or three races with James [Vowles, at Williams – Colapinto actually having completed nine races with the team] and did very, very well. Maybe to be in a team with a good driver like Pierre, or racing in competition with your team mate, maybe we put too much pressure on him. We need to consider that.

“Drivers are human beings and we need sometimes to understand exactly what is going on in the heads of these kids, because they are young kids of 19, 20, 22, 23... Sometimes we underestimate the human part of the driver. We are looking always for the timing. Maybe I missed something in the management of the driver, Colapinto.

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