Flavio Briatore, after the Canada GP qualy: “Franco Colapinto has finally unlocked”

The Italian analyzed the work of the Argentine after being 12 in the classification for the tenth date of F1, although he will finally leave tenth for the sanctions suffered by Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar.

“If I said I’m happy now, I would lie. I’m not happy. Now we have to see how the season evolves for him.” Flavio Briatore’s phrase about Franco Colapinto after the GP of Spain rumbled strong. The Italian is the strong man of Alpine and the main driver of the arrival of the Argentine to the team based in Estone. The complicated triplet that faced Williams’s expilot had not shaped the executive advisor of the team and in functions of director after the resignation of Oliver Oakes. “In this work, you have to recover confidence as soon as possible. So I hope you achieve it soon and go,” the Piedmontés closed.

Thus came the GP of Canada, tenth appointment of the season. The free weekend between races allowed Colapint to work at the base of the team and maintain a deep dialogue with engineers. The start of the activity in the semi -permanent Gilles Villeneuve de Montreal did nothing but increase the shadows after a Friday in which he was far from the rest of the category every time he looked for a good time on a return. But the taba turned in the classification, after the team engineers decided to make great changes in the tuning of the A525 and the result came: the Buenos Aires was 12th in the classification, he beat Pierre Gasly and, finally, he will start tenth for the sanctions received by Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar.

In talk with AM850, Briatore was very satisfied with the work of Colapino and Alpine: “Franco did a great job today, but the team did a good job today. The car was good. The red flag blocked the last part of Pierre (NDER: at the end of the Q1), but would have finished sixth or seventh. And Franco was there. But today I am happy because Franco has finally unlocked. It is a new team, many media talked about him, generated a lot of pressure. Today Franco began, I saw him more serene. I am very happy with him, ”said Pope.

Brost confessed that they had never lost confidence in Franco: “From the beginning we trust him. Now he did well, yes. But if he is in the car it is because we believe in him. We do not have to press it. Today I am very happy, I am happy for him, and for the engineers who have worked very, very hard for him. I hope this is a step for Franco. I think he was a little blocked, I did not have much confidence in the machine. I must say that Pierre also helped him a lot. Team climate, have two pilots talking to each other. Today Franco saw that Pierre was wrong. And also we, because it could really have been between the seventh and tenth. But I’m happy for Franco, he did very, very good. ”

Of course, Briatore filled Collapint from praise, but put a logical brake on enthusiasm: “He did a good job, yes, but he didn’t win the world championship, he won no career, he won nothing. But let’s say today, see Franco’s name in the first ten gives me a lot of pleasure.”