Colapinto has not met ‘expectations’ as Flavio Briatore casts doubts on Alpine 2026 seat

Alpine boss Flavio Briatore has conceded Franco Colapinto has not met his expectations following a lacklustre start for the team.

The Enstone outfit paid a considerable fee to spring Colapinto from his Williams contract and, having dumped Jack Doohan after just six races in the 2025 season, the Argentine has done little to pay back that figure on the track.

Franco Colapinto future in doubt with Flavio Briatore admission

Colapinto is ahead of only Doohan in the standings and has yet to score a point in his eight races this term, casting doubt on whether he will survive into next year.

Rumours suggested Briatore had sounded out a number of alternatives for Alpine, including recently announced Cadillac drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, and the 75-year-old declined to give his backing to Colapinto, instead suggesting he had failed to live up to expectations.

“I’ve seen everything already, I don’t think I need to see anything anymore,” said Briatore when asked whether Colapinto had done enough for a 2026 spot.

“For this driver, it’s very difficult to cope with this car. These cars are very, very heavy, very, very quick.

“For the young driver to be put in Formula 1, maybe was not the timing to have Franco in Formula 1. Maybe [he] needed another one year [away] to be part of Formula 1.

“I’m not happy when I look at the result. What is important is the result. Is really not, not what I expected from Colapinto.”

Briatore went on to suggest that the team put too much “pressure” on the 22-year-old, making it hard for him to compete with the more experienced Pierre Gasly.

“We changed Doohan with Franco Colapinto and maybe Colapinto has too much pressure to be in Formula 1.

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“He had two or three races with [Williams] and he did very well but maybe to be in the team with a good driver like Pierre and always in competition with his team-mate, maybe we put too much pressure on him.

“Sometime we [forget] that the driver is a human being, and we need some time to understand exactly what’s going on.

“Because they’re young kids, 19, 20, 22, 23. I think our mistakes are trying to underestimate the human part of the life.

“I know we’re always looking for the timing. Maybe I missed something in the management of the driver for the future.”

Colapinto was initially given five races at the team but that deadline came and went without any official confirmation from Alpine that he would be staying.

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