Franco Colapinto, in the face of Spa-Francorchamps

The Argentine comes from the disappointment of Silverstone, where he could not start, and reaches the Belgium GP with the need to achieve better performance.

A year ago, Franco Colapinto played his last Formula 2 race in the mythical spa-Francorchamps circuit. After closing a complicated weekend, with abandonment in Sunday’s race due to motor problems, the Argentine said: “I wish he has broken like that they give me another.” A day later he would receive James Vowles’s call to announce that a week later he would be above the Williams of F1. In just 365 days, the Buenos Aires lived to a change of team and this weekend will return to the layout located in the Ardenas forest with the objective, and necessity, to channel the course with Alpine.

The context is not the best: The Estone team comfortably occupies the last place in the World Cup in Builders with 19 points and is ten from Haas, the penultimate.

Alpine, a de facto directed by Flavio Briatore waiting for Steve Nielsen in September, barely put on track a single update in the year (new soil in Barcelona) because the cannons point to 2026 with the arrival of the new regulation, but these days live a moment of uncertainty waiting for the determination of Renault, the parent company, on the future of the team.

With the departure of Luca de Meo from the position of CEO World of the Rombo, Alpine F1 was left without his maximum defender doors inside the terminal. Until the Briratore position was in the nebula, because he was hired as Executive Advisor by De Meo … In recent days the rumors about a possible sale of the team from which Renault is the owner of 76% of the shareholding package (the remaining 24% belongs to the group The Investor Group). Last 15, Duncan Minto assumed the position of CEO on an interim way waiting for the appointment of someone final, although it is not clear when it will happen. For now, I must decide what will happen to Alpine F1, whose value would be around 1.5 billion dollars. Behind there would be a Chinese giant wanting to buy not only the team, but the entire Alpine brand.

Meanwhile, the World Cup continues its course. Colapint arrives at the Belgium GP, 13th date, as the only pilot of the entire current grill that did not add points in the season. His partner Pierre Gasly scored the 19 that Alpine has, the last ones in Great Britain where he achieved eight units in a great performance, taking advantage of the changing and complicated track conditions. The Argentine could not even start the race for a transmission problem that left him in boxes. Therefore, for the Argentine it will be his sixth Grand Prize in seven weekends with the French team (Silverstone does not count as a presence for not having started). Colapinto is costing to understand Alpine well and that undermined him a little confidence, especially on Friday of training. Precisely, when he had his best Friday, he could not start the race and in classification he made an error that left him outside and last in Q1 after a mistake.

The Argentine coexists with rumors about his future and in Silverstone there was talk about a possible landing of Valtteri Bottas to occupy his armchair, a noise confirmed by Toto Wolff, director of Mercedes, noting that he had had talks with Briatore for the Finn. This is the F1 and Colapinto knows it. “There is always noise and rumors,” said the Argentine in England, knowing that he must live with the situation until he achieves a convincing action that applauds everything.

Will that performance arrive in Belgium? The spa weekend will be complicated, without a doubt. There the third sprint of the season will be played, therefore, the pilots will have just a training session and the same Friday must be classified for the Sprint. On Saturday the short race will be played and then the classification for Sunday. All tight and With a classic guest in the city of the province of Lieja: the rain. The prognosis announces it for three days of activity. And with a more complication that usually happens in the seven kilometers of the layout: water can fall into some sector and not in another.

Colapint spoke before the landing in Belgium in statements that Alpine publishes: “It was two weeks of rest very well received after Silverstone. When reflecting on that weekend, the team had its ups and downs. Congratulations to Pierre and the team to achieve our best result of the season and add some more points. For my part, it was disappointing not being able Pilots further back. It is not usual to have two weeks free among races, so it was nice to have time to recover. I traveled to Barcelona to train and I feel rested and ready to return to the track at Spa-Francorchamps. We will try to make the most of the next two weekends and start the second half of the season with good foot, ”said the Argentine.