Alpine keeps Gasly focus as Colapinto future unclear

Franco Colapinto says he still has more to prove, but Alpine’s patience with the Argentine rookie appears to be wearing thin.

The 22-year-old was brought in on loan from Williams after Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore convinced Renault to pay heavily for the deal. Yet Briatore now wonders if the timing was right.

“These cars are very, very heavy, very quick,” he said. “And for a young driver to be put in Formula 1, maybe it was not the timing to have Franco in Formula 1. Maybe he needs another year or two.

“He tries very hard with the engineers to please them in everything, but it’s not what I expect from Colapinto. Maybe it was too much pressure. For the future, honestly, I don’t know.”

Colapinto insists he can respond in the second half of 2025. “I will be racing on tracks that I already know well and have experience of driving an F1 car on them,” he said at Zandvoort. “I hope familiar tracks will allow me to feel more confident and add speed.”

For Alpine, though, the key is Pierre Gasly. “At the moment, we are negotiating with Pierre to extend the contract,” Briatore told Canal Plus. “It’s the cornerstone from which we have to start. After that, we’ll see what happens.

“But we are very happy with Pierre. It doesn’t always show in his results, but he is very efficient with the car he has. With Franco, for next year, we haven’t decided yet. Everything remains open. We still have ten races to decide.”

Briatore also dismissed speculation that he might join forces with Bernie Ecclestone and Christian Horner to buy the team from Renault.

“I don’t consider anything at the moment,” he said. “Christian is not in Formula 1 in this moment anymore. I hope he comes back soon, but for the moment, he’s not in the picture of the team.” Even so, Briatore could see the entertainment value in that sort of lineup.

“The sharks,” he laughed. “The shark media.” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also admitted the idea had appeal. “That would be an exciting story and good content,” he said.

“Formula 1 has always been about the best racing, with exciting drivers and great personalities, and when you look back at the grand era of team owners and team principals – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Flavio, Montezemolo – maybe we need to work on that.”

Meanwhile, Briatore is preparing to delegate more responsibility to Steve Nielsen, who is returning to Enstone after Oliver Oakes’ sudden departure. “It’s not just one job I expect from Steve,” Briatore said. “I expect Steve to be in charge from A to Z.”