Flavio Briatore and the up and down with Franco Colapinto

Of a hard criticism, he went to a pamper and from there, to talk about stability in Alpine. At the end of October, Pierre Gasly’s partner will be announced and the Argentine could have continuity.

Zandvoort, August 29. Conference room: “I have already seen everything, I do not think I need to see anything else. Maybe it was not the time to have Franco in Formula 1. Maybe I needed another year to be part of Formula 1. I am not happy with the result. The important thing is the result. It really is not what I expected from Franco Colapinto.”

Monza, September 6, interview with Sky Sports: “Pierre Gasly’s partner for 2026 is not yet determined, but for the moment I think Franco is doing a good job. Collapint paid a little with inexperience at the beginning, like many of the rookie pilots, young pilots. Now in the last three or four races it has been much more consistent, without errors. So, for the second seat, perhaps it is Franco, we will see another four or five races.”

September 10, Interview with AFP: “The team needs stability, and the possibility of keeping the two pilots part of that stability.”

The owner of the three statements made in 12 days is Flavio Briatore, the strong man of the Alpine team. The Italian went from strong criticism, to the pamper and, finally, to the almost confirmation of continuity of the Argentine. Taking into account the Italian opinion changes, nothing can be taken for sure. And much less when it comes to formula 1.

What changed in the middle? The Argentine performance. His first races with Alpine were complicated. To the lack of competitiveness of the A525, the worst car of the grill, was added a walk without consistency of collapint. He had shown spark, but sporadic. In Isola, when he first climbed as a starter, Briatore asked him for three things: to be fast, not to collide and add points. I had not complied with any. He stuck in his first classification with the Estone team, he lacked speed compared to Gasly (the only one with which he can stop) and the points were light years. In the middle he suffered problems in the preparation of cars by the team and was left unlocked in Great Britain.

From Hungary, the date that marked the closure of the first part of the season before the holidays, Colapinto won in consistency and speed. The points follow light years. Gasly was the only one who managed to add with Alpine in the year and granted the squalid 20 points that the French have in the construction table. In Hungaroring, the Buenos Aires had a good rhythm, but everything was shipwrecked with two failed stops in boxes (it was 18 seconds stopped). The consistency continued in the Netherlands and Italy. Of the trio of competitions that marked Franco’s improvement, in two beat Gasly in the classifications (Hungaroring and Monza), always within the poor context of Alpine.

Maybe those performances were the ones that led Briatore to change their minds. It is true, before its hard criticism, Franco’s progress had already been seen in Hungary, but three days after the race, on the same track he destroyed an A525 during a Pirelli test.

“At the moment, we have not yet made a decision, but normally stability means that we keep them both. The most important thing is to make a car that gives up,” said Briatore With AFP. The decision will be made at the end of October. At that time the races of Azerbaijan, Singapore, the United States and Mexico will have passed. Maybe, on the weekend of the competition at the Rodríguez brothers the announcement arrives. For now, and only for now in the case of the rise and low of Briratore, the roads lead to Gasly-Colapinto being the 2026 duo. But …