Flavio Briatore defends Franco Colapinto after Imola crash: “He’s young, patience is needed”. Flavio Briatore defends Franco Colapinto after a tough debut with Alpine in Imola.

Flavio Briatore and the three demands made to Colapinto
Of the “three things” that Flavio Briatore asked of Franco Colapinto during the weekend of his debut with Alpine, the young Argentine driver failed to achieve even one. Colapinto was not fast, did not score points, and above all, damaged the car, forcing the team’s mechanics to work overtime to repair his car after a crash at the end of the first qualifying session. It was a decidedly complicated start for the 21-year-old, who at least managed to finish the race and take the checkered flag on a very demanding track like the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.

Apart from that, it’s clear that—at least in the early races (and it’s not necessarily five, despite what was stated in the official press release announcing the rotation with Jack Doohan in Alpine’s second seat)—Franco Colapinto is being granted a bit of breathing room. After all, once the team decided to replace the previous full-time driver, it only makes sense to give the newcomer some time to settle in.

Flavio Briatore’s comments
Speaking to Viaplay after the checkered flag of the 2025 Emilia-Romagna GP, Flavio Briatore didn’t come down too hard on the young near-rookie for his errors this weekend: “This was his first race with Alpine, and he was in a difficult situation after the crash in qualifying. We’ll see what happens, but we also need to be a little patient with him because he’s a very young guy with great potential.”

Franco Colapinto optimistic ahead of Monaco
Franco Colapinto himself, despite not scoring the much-desired points—an achievement that also eluded his more experienced teammate Pierre Gasly—appeared moderately satisfied at the end of the race, even though his first pit stop on lap 22 came just before the Virtual Safety Car period, which ended up benefiting many of his direct rivals. “I felt more and more confident with the car lap after lap, and I closed the gap to Gasly, who’s the reference point within the team. The goal was to finish the race, and scoring points was always going to be difficult from where we started. Monaco? I’m confident, but I’ll have to take it step by step,” said Franco Colapinto after the race, to the satisfaction of team boss Flavio Briatore.