The Alpine advisor, who is now not team boss after all, makes it clear: “There is no limit—Colapinto will drive as long as he delivers.” This contradicts the press release
Flavio Briatore has retracted his own press release: Nine days after Alpine officially announced that Franco Colapinto would compete in the next five Formula 1 races, the new team boss in Imola has clarified that the Argentine could stay in the car for much longer.
“I read somewhere that he’s supposed to drive five races – but no, there’s no set number,” Briatore told Sky Italia. “Franco will drive as long as necessary. He has to be fast, avoid accidents, and score points. Those are the three things I demand of him – not ten. If he does that well, he’ll drive forever.”
This clearly contradicts the official statement from May 7, which said that Colapinto would compete in the next five races in place of Jack Doohan, who is moving to the reserve role for the time being after six Grands Prix without scoring any points. Briatore himself was quoted in this statement as saying that the situation would be reassessed after the five races.
But now there’s been a U-turn – and between the lines, a clear signal: if the Argentine delivers, he can drive longer. Briatore emphasizes: “I also expected more from Jack Doohan. Maybe he just needs a break.”
No official role – but pulling all the strings
Officially, Briatore has not been listed in any defined position since team boss Oliver Oakes resigned after the Miami weekend. Sports director Dave Greenwood is currently acting as the formal team representative. But the announcements in Imola leave no doubt: the Italian is leading the Alpine team both externally and internally.
“Oliver’s resignation came as a surprise; it was a personal matter,” explains Briatore, emphasizing that he was taken by surprise. “There were rumors that we had argued – that’s not true. We had a great relationship. Now the organizational chart is a little different, but basically everything remains the same.”
He left open what will happen with the team boss role: “I’ll take a look at the situation. For now, I’ll take over myself – but it’s not like I’m new to this,” he says with a laugh. He already won world championship titles with Benetton and Renault in the 1990s and 2000s – with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, among others.
Even if Colapinto doesn’t deliver, it’s far from clear whether Jack Doohan will make a comeback. With Paul Aron waiting in the wings, there is another possible candidate for the cockpit.
