After witnessing the promising results achieved by Franco Colapinto at the end of the 2024 season while driving for Williams, former team boss Flavio Briatore was confident that if Alpine had Colapinto as a reserve driver, especially in case Jack Doohan failed to meet the team’s expectations, Alpine would be well covered. They would have a driver ready to step into the car and score valuable points.
Unfortunately, after the first twelve Grands Prix of the 2025 Formula 1 season—during which Jack Doohan drove the first six races and Franco Colapinto the latter six—both drivers are currently tied at zero points. The Argentine driver holds a slight edge due to some finishes just inside the top ten, but nothing particularly notable.
Colapinto’s Position Uncertain, Riccardo Patrese Issues a Warning Regarding Flavio Briatore
The second Alpine car is not delivering adequate results, and according to rumors, Franco Colapinto’s position within the team has started to become unstable. In this context, former Formula 1 driver Riccardo Patrese, who once worked with the current Alpine team principal Flavio Briatore back in 1993 at Benetton—when Riccardo Patrese teamed up with Michael Schumacher—offered his opinion on the 22-year-old driver from Pilar during an interview with ‘Online Slots’: “Franco is not giving his best and has been involved in accidents. Briatore doesn’t help drivers maintain high morale, and this situation could cause problems. Colapinto is not safe right now.”
Riccardo Patrese went on to caution: “This can happen with Briatore. From my point of view, Briatore is like a bomb that can explode at any moment.” According to Patrese, being part of the team with the Italian manager is akin to “sitting next to a World War II bomb, still lying around somewhere, ready to explode,” he concluded, as reported by ‘Crash.net’.
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