Flavio Briatore observes a clear upward trend in Franco Colapinto’s performance. The Argentine rookie, who replaced Jack Doohan after a few races, is still without points in Formula 1. However, he seems to be convincing the Alpine top of his abilities.
“For now, I think Franco is doing well,” Briatore tells Sky. “He paid the price for his lack of experience at the beginning, like many young drivers. But in the last three or four races, he’s been driving much more consistently, making no mistakes. We have another four or five races to assess him, then we’ll see.”
Last weekend, Colapinto drove to his best result of the season with an eleventh place, just behind teammate Esteban Ocon. Briatore points out that other newcomers also need time to get up to speed: “You see it with all the rookies this year. The first six, seven races were tough for everyone. But I think Franco is now starting to stabilize. He’s driving well and communicates excellently with the engineers. Let’s wait and see.”
Meanwhile, Alpine confirmed yesterday that Pierre Gasly has extended his contract until the end of 2028. The second seat is still vacant, but Briatore expects to have clarity by November about who will become Gasly’s teammate.
