![\"Briatore](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XPB_1367308_HiRes.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlavio Briatore has issued a scathing assessment on Franco Colapinto. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlavio Briatore has issued a scathing assessment on Franco Colapinto. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
The Argentine was drafted into the team after the Miami Grand Prix, replacing Jack Doohan just six races into the season.<\/p>\n
Alpine paid a significant sum to release Colapinto from his Williams reserve contract, with Briatore insisting at the time that a reset was required to change the team\u2019s trajectory.<\/p>\n
But after eight races Colapinto remains without a point, his best finishes 13th in Monaco and Canada, and his lack of progress has led Briatore to question whether he was promoted too soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen everything already, so I don\u2019t think I need to see anything more,\u201d Briatore said when asked whether Colapinto had done enough to secure his place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for this driver, it is very difficult to cope with this car as they are very, very heavy and very, very quick for a young driver in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it was not the [right] timing to have Franco in Formula 1, and maybe he needs another year to be part of F1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not happy with the result; this is what is important, and he tries very hard, we try very hard with the engineering [team], but it is not what I expected from Colapinto.\u201d<\/p>\n
F1 regulations allow each team up to four drivers in a single season, meaning Alpine could still make another change if results do not improve.<\/p>\n
Briatore admitted that placing Colapinto alongside Pierre Gasly, who has consistently outperformed him, may have been a miscalculation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe changed Doohan with Colapinto, and maybe Colapinto had the same problem \u2013 too much pressure to be in F1.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, he had two or three good races, but maybe to be in the team with a good driver like Pierre, and always to be in competition with him, maybe we put too much pressure on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Briatore, who returned to a frontline management role at Enstone earlier this year, also stressed the importance of considering the human side of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to consider that the driver is a human being, and we need time to understand exactly what is going on in the head of these kids, because they are young kids.<\/p>\n
\u201c[They are] 19-23, and I think one of our mistakes is underestimating the human part of the driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are always looking for the timing, and maybe I missed something in the management of Colapinto, but as for the future, honestly, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colapinto\u2019s long-term future at Alpine is now the subject of intense speculation.<\/p>\n