Explicitly giving the Argentine just five races in the seat, however, was a real surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of an ongoing assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds,\u201d the press release said.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The team \u201ctherefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July.\u201d<\/p>\n
As if that wasn\u2019t explicit enough, executive adviser Flavio Briatore \u2014 who by that time was also de facto team principal \u2014 emphasised that the change was an evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,\u201d he was quoted as saying. \u201cWe are in a position where we see the need to rotate out line-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different, and after this time period we will assess our options.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as is the way with Alpine, Formula 1\u2019s most chaotic team, that seemingly explicit position was watered down almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that a driver gets three or five races,\u201d Briatore told Italy\u2019s Sky Sport just days later. \u201cI expected more from Jack Doohan. Maybe he needs a break.<\/p>\n
\u201cFranco will race as much as needed. I read somewhere that he\u2019ll have five races, but no, there\u2019s no set limit on his races.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to be fast, not crash, and score points. I\u2019m only asking him these three things \u2014 not 10. If he does them well, he will drive forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Briatore is believed to have been the driving force behind Colapinto\u2019s inclusion in the team as Doohan\u2019s replacement. The statement of almost unlimited faith was on brand.<\/p>\n
But just two weeks, one big crash, two slow qualifying sessions and no points later, Briatore was markedly chillier on the Argentine\u2019s prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, honestly,\u201d he said when asked how many races Colapinto would get. \u201cIf Colapinto is performing, he\u2019s driving the car. If not, we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know at this moment if Franco will stay for the season or not, but let\u2019s see. It depends on the performance. We\u2019re only looking at the performance, nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colapinto\u2019s original five-race deadline \u2014 or not \u2014 is coming up at this weekend\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
It makes this week an important moment \u2014 or not \u2014 to assess how Alpine\u2019s driver gamble is tracking.<\/p>\n
PIT TALK PODCAST: Marc Marquez has planted his flag – literally and figuratively – on Francesco Bagnaia\u2019s home turf to continue his championship domination. Is this the best he\u2019s ever been? We ask TV world feed commentator Matt Birt for his view and for his take on the season to date. Plus: is Ferrari about to axe yet another team principal after its slow start to the season?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2018BE FAST, NOT CRASH, AND SCORE POINTS\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Briatore\u2019s criteria were clear as Colapinto ascended to his full-time seat: be fast, don\u2019t crash, score points.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to justify a pass mark on any of those counts, having been comprehensively beaten by Gasly, having yet to score a point and having had a massive crash on his first weekend back.<\/p>\n
But those criteria were a tough ask for a driver thrown into the car suddenly part of the way through the campaign.<\/p>\n
Gasly is a seasoned operator who\u2019s in his third season with the team. He knows Alpine inside out and understands the quirks of the car.<\/p>\n
Colapinto, after joining from Williams during the off-season, didn\u2019t even get pre-season testing. Expecting him to even get close to matching Gasly in five races was always optimistic.<\/p>\n
Instead it would be better to compare him with Doohan. With a similar number of races under his belt and having been brought in supposedly as a points-ready performance upgrade, putting his stats alongside the Australian\u2019s will help to reveal whether the driver switch has been a success.<\/p>\n
At best the numbers suggest the move has been a sideways one for Alpine \u2014 or at least they did before the Canadian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
His qualifying crash in Imola seemed to dent his confidence, and he spent the following two races anchored to the back of the field. He qualified twice on the back row and was never higher than 17th in any non-race session.<\/p>\n
In Canada, however, he qualified and finished ahead of Gasly, who started from pit lane after qualifying last thanks to a red flag in Q1 and then him failing to get his tyres up to temperature for his final all-or-nothing lap.<\/p>\n
Given the small sample size, that one weekend skewed the Colapinto-Doohan comparison in the Argentine\u2019s favour, especially in qualifying.<\/p>\n
Qualifying differential<\/b><\/p>\n
Doohan<\/b>: 4.2 places behind (15.5 average)<\/p>\n
Colapinto<\/b>: 2.5 places behind (16.5 average) (before Canada: 6.0 places behind (18.0 average))<\/p>\n
Gasly failing to set a representative lap in Canada also brought Colapinto\u2019s average pace deficit down to being on par with Doohan, whereas beforehand he was considerably relatively slower.<\/p>\n
Time differential*<\/b><\/p>\n
Doohan<\/b>: 0.236 seconds slower<\/p>\n
Colapinto<\/b>: 0.227 seconds slower (before Canada: 0.481 seconds slower)<\/p>\n
*all laps normalised to 90 seconds to make different circuits comparable.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s harder to compare Doohan and Colapinto to Gasly when it comes to race finishes given both Alpine cars have been classified in only five of 10 grands prix \u2014 twice during Doohan\u2019s tenure and three times with Colapinto in the team.<\/p>\n
Colapinto finishing ahead of Gasly in Canada therefore boosted his average relative to his teammate, even if he\u2019s been taking the chequered flag in pretty much the same position as Doohan had been.<\/p>\n
Race differential<\/b><\/p>\n
Doohan<\/b>: 4.5 places behind (14.8 average)<\/p>\n
Colapinto<\/b>: 2.7 places behind (14.3 average) (before Canada: 5.0 places behind (14.7 average))<\/p>\n
Assessing points scored also reveals little given neither Doohan nor Colapinto has finished a grand prix in the top 10.<\/p>\n
Points scored<\/b><\/p>\n
Doohan<\/b>: 0-7 points (best finish: 13th)<\/p>\n
Colapinto<\/b>: 0-4 points (best finish: 13th)<\/p>\n
Mark Marquez extends lead atop MotoGP | 01:01<\/p>\n
DOOHAN DESERVED TIME, BUT SO DOES COLAPINTO<\/b><\/p>\n
The summary of the above statistics is that Colapinto\u2019s induction has brought no discernible bounce. While he demonstrated improved form in Canada, the comparison with his teammate there was coloured by Gasly\u2019s own underperformance.<\/p>\n
At best he\u2019s been a match for Doohan.<\/p>\n
That would be particularly frustrating for the Australian, who showed strong speed from the first race of the season and had overcome Gasly in qualifying for the first time at what turned out to be his final race.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s every reason to think Doohan would have been continuing to improve. He was dropped before the opening triple-header of the season, which comprised circuits he knows well from his junior career and at which he\u2019s had good form.<\/p>\n
Considering Colapinto was ostensibly brought into the team to replicate his strong debut at Williams last year, scoring points just two rounds in, it\u2019s hard to call this anything other than a failure.<\/p>\n
And if Briatore \u201cexpected more\u201d from Doohan, surely he thinks the same about Colapinto\u2019s performances \u2014 sponsorship money aside.<\/p>\n
That said, just as Doohan deserved more time to find consistency, Colapinto too deserves more than a handful of grands prix to prove he can lift his game now he\u2019s the one behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
The circumstances of his sudden promotion weren\u2019t kind to him. Starting with a triple-header meant he had no time to digest lessons learnt each weekend, and having Monaco sandwiched in the middle \u2014 the most specific and confidence-sensitive circuit on the calendar \u2014 did him no favours.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey [the first three rounds] were tough,\u201d he said. \u201cI was expecting to do a bit more progress after Imola, but it\u2019s always tough to get back into F1 after six races of not being there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are not driving it\u2019s really tricky.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s perhaps not surprising that he had improved by Canada after getting a weekend off to process three rounds worth of insights into the Alpine car.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it always helps to have a little bit of a break after a couple of races,\u201d he said. \u201cGetting into a triple-header is always difficult because you don\u2019t have enough time to change things \u2014 to change enough things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was used to something so different [at Williams], which didn\u2019t give me enough time between races to reflect enough on it and learn and understand exactly what we need to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked on many things. Just generally there are some things set-up-wise that have not been working for me. I felt very much almost out of phase with everything \u2014 with the tools in the car, with the set-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing was fighting the other one. Once we understood that after the race in Barcelona, it made much more sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beating Gasly in qualifying was less important than his season-best 12th in Q2, which suggests genuine progress regardless of his teammate\u2019s underperformance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not the result that we wanted from the weekend in Canada, but we made good progress session by session and showed we had potential in the car,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just need to keep working hard and keep making steps in the right direction ahead of Austria this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feeney does top end hat-trick in Darwin | 02:02<\/p>\n
ALPINE\u2019S PROBLEMS ARE DEEPER THAN ITS DRIVERS<\/b><\/p>\n
But it\u2019s unclear how much time Colapinto will be given to make those steps given the lack of clarity of his five-race window.<\/p>\n
In any case, dropping him after the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, his fifth race, would make little sense given it\u2019s back to back with the Great Britain. It would make more sense to pull the trigger in the break after Silverstone.<\/p>\n
But while Alpine has made the identity of Gasly\u2019s teammate a major story this season, really it has far bigger issues to deal with.<\/p>\n
Despite some optimism early in the year \u2014 especially in Bahrain, where the team was dead last in 2024 but scored points this season \u2014 Alpine\u2019s 2025 car is seriously troubled.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the seventh-quickest team by one-lap pace this season, but its development trend is dire.<\/p>\n
The development trend metric is measured by plotting a line of best fit between each team\u2019s deficit to pole at every grand prix.<\/p>\n
Because the season\u2019s two biggest pole margins have been set at the previous two rounds, all but one team is calculated to be moving backwards from pole, but Alpine is doing so at an alarming rate of knots.<\/p>\n
Development trend after 10 rounds<\/b><\/p>\n
1. Aston Martin<\/b>: improved by 0.393 seconds<\/p>\n
2. Red Bull Racing<\/b>: degraded by 0.126 seconds<\/p>\n
3. Haas<\/b>: degraded by 0.142 seconds<\/p>\n
4. McLaren<\/b>: degraded by 0.153 seconds<\/p>\n
5. Sauber<\/b>: degraded by 0.242 seconds<\/p>\n
6. Mercedes<\/b>: degraded by 0.329 seconds<\/p>\n
7. Ferrari<\/b>: degraded by 0.281 seconds<\/p>\n
8. Williams<\/b>: degraded by 0.535 seconds<\/p>\n
9. Racing Bulls<\/b>: degraded by 0.598 seconds<\/p>\n
10. Alpine<\/b>: degraded by 0.726 seconds<\/p>\n
That declining form is evident in the team\u2019s average gap to pole from the last five races.<\/p>\n
Average gap to pole, rounds 6 to 10<\/b><\/p>\n
1. McLaren<\/b>: 0.057 seconds<\/p>\n
2. Red Bull Racing<\/b>: 0.242 seconds<\/p>\n
3. Mercedes<\/b>: 0.412 seconds<\/p>\n
4. Ferrari<\/b>: 0.544 seconds<\/p>\n
5. Williams<\/b>: 0.752 seconds<\/p>\n
6. Racing Bulls<\/b>: 0.853 seconds<\/p>\n
7. Aston Martin<\/b>: 0.911 seconds<\/p>\n
8. Alpine<\/b>: 1.151 seconds<\/p>\n
9. Haas<\/b>: 1.190 seconds<\/p>\n
10. Sauber<\/b>: 1.335 seconds<\/p>\n
What would be most concerning is that Sauber has shown considerably improved performance since delivering a major upgrade package in Spain. Nico H\u00fclkenberg has since scored points at two grands prix in a row, including a sensational fifth in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
With Aston Martin also much improved in that time and with Haas a frequent but irregular scorer, Alpine has been dumped to last in the constructors championship with a little over half Sauber\u2019s points, 11-20.<\/p>\n
Who is driving the second car is almost irrelevant in this context. With Gasly having scored just twice all season, it\u2019s clear Alpine\u2019s bigger problem is its car \u2014 and that\u2019s without mentioning the off-track turmoil of losing yet another team principal or the sudden resignation of Renault CEO Luca de Meo, plunging the team\u2019s future into doubt.<\/p>\n
But most drivers only ever get one shot at Formula 1. It\u2019s up to Colapinto to make the most of his regardless of the circumstances.<\/p>\n
And it remains to be seen whether Doohan will get the rest of his.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFranco Colapinto will drive alongside Pierre Gasly for the next five races.\u201d That was the unusual proclamation in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[6207,521,7907,45171,85348,2528,199,943,85370,85373,85360,24988,85342,85369,85374,25001,85361,299,85353,4199,85356,85354,85362,85343,42188,707,4200,9824,22626,22596,22610,2199,4291,85366,37991,27219,85351,85357,85341,300,24993,85368,1712,85347,25010,59980,85365,85346,8787,85358,47229,22620,85359,85371,85352,74050,85350,85363,85372,85355,43259,104,85344,79,85364,24989,74041,22624,22607,85345,85367,16,15,22591,17669,85349],"class_list":{"0":"post-214663","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-asia","10":"tag-austria","11":"tag-average-gap","12":"tag-average-pace-deficit","13":"tag-bahrain","14":"tag-barcelona","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-championship-domination","17":"tag-championship-position","18":"tag-confidence-sensitive-circuit","19":"tag-constructors-championship","20":"tag-development-trend","21":"tag-driver-gamble","22":"tag-driver-line-up","23":"tag-driver-market","24":"tag-driver-switch","25":"tag-europe","26":"tag-executive-adviser","27":"tag-f1","28":"tag-final-all-or-nothing-lap","29":"tag-final-race","30":"tag-five-race-deadline","31":"tag-five-race-window","32":"tag-flavio-briatore","33":"tag-formula-1","34":"tag-formula1","35":"tag-george-russell","36":"tag-getty-images-inc","37":"tag-grand-prix","38":"tag-grands-prix","39":"tag-italy","40":"tag-jack-doohan","41":"tag-junior-career","42":"tag-luca-de-meo","43":"tag-marc-marquez","44":"tag-mark-marquez","45":"tag-matt-birt-f1","46":"tag-non-race-session","47":"tag-north-america","48":"tag-northern-america","49":"tag-one-lap-pace","50":"tag-oscar-piastri","51":"tag-pass-mark","52":"tag-pit-talk","53":"tag-points-scored","54":"tag-points-ready-performance-upgrade","55":"tag-pole-margins","56":"tag-press-release","57":"tag-progress-session","58":"tag-province-of-barcelona","59":"tag-race-differential","60":"tag-race-seats","61":"tag-representative-lap","62":"tag-rounds-worth","63":"tag-score-points","64":"tag-scored-points","65":"tag-set-limit","66":"tag-seventh-quickest-team","67":"tag-slow-qualifying-sessions","68":"tag-southern-europe","69":"tag-spain","70":"tag-sponsorship-money","71":"tag-sports","72":"tag-sudden-resignation","73":"tag-team-principal","74":"tag-things-set-up-wise","75":"tag-time-differential","76":"tag-time-offer","77":"tag-time-period","78":"tag-top-end-hat-trick","79":"tag-uk","80":"tag-united-kingdom","81":"tag-western-asia","82":"tag-western-europe","83":"tag-world-feed-commentator"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}