Flavio Briatore has to admit that his management style may not have been right for Franco Colapinto: Was the Argentine promoted too early?
Has Flavio Briatore had a late realization? The Alpine advisor, who took over as interim team principal after Oliver Oakes’ departure, admits that he may have put too much pressure on the team’s second driver.
There is a lot of discussion about the second cockpit at the French team in 2025. Rookie Jack Doohan started the season in the A525, but even before the first race, the sword of Damocles was hanging over him in the form of Franco Colapinto, who was just waiting to replace the Australian.
The pressure was palpable: Doohan was unable to keep up with his teammate Pierre Gasly and was replaced by the Argentine after only six races. The problem was that the results did not improve. Colapinto is also still waiting for his first point after eight races.
Although he has already had more time in the car than Doohan, he too is driving on probation: Alpine first announced five races, then wanted to evaluate him on a race-by-race basis.
Surprising insight from Briatore
Briatore now admits that his strict management of his drivers may not have been the most productive approach. He admits that both Colapinto and, previously, Doohan were put in a difficult position.
“We replaced Doohan with Franco, and maybe he has the same problem: too much pressure to succeed in Formula 1,” he said at Friday’s press conference. “Maybe we put too much pressure on him. We sometimes have to remember that the driver is a human being, and we sometimes have to understand exactly what is going on in their heads because they are young: 19, 20, 22, 23…”
“It’s our mistake to sometimes underestimate the human aspect of the driver,” said the Italian. “We only ever look at lap times. Maybe I overlooked something in the management of the driver.”
Colapinto promoted too early?
Briatore also suggests that Colapinto may have been promoted too early and needed more time to settle in, rather than being under the microscope every weekend alongside the high-performing Gasly.
“I think it’s very difficult for a driver to cope with this car,” says Briatore. “Maybe it wasn’t the right time to bring Franco into Formula 1, maybe he needed another year to be part of Formula 1.”
“I’m not satisfied when you look at the results, and that’s what counts,” he emphasizes. “He tried very hard. We worked very hard with the engineering team to accommodate him in every way, but honestly, it’s not what I expect from Colapinto.”
Vowles: It works without pressure
One person who managed to get Colapinto to perform is James Vowles. He put the youngster in the Williams last year instead of Logan Sargeant – and with success. Colapinto was able to challenge his more experienced teammate Alexander Albon, score points and thus become a shooting star.
His secret: “When there’s no pressure, you can get a lot more out of a driver because he’s not worried about the immediate impact of his performance.”
A good example for him is Colapinto’s first outing in practice at Silverstone. “He thought it was his only chance to ever get there, and my message to him beforehand was: ‘It’s not about lap times, it’s about relaxing and enjoying the moment because it may never come again.’ And he delivered an outstanding performance.”
“The second change is that today, three tenths separate the entire field. So if you make a small mistake—and a small mistake is just a tenth—you’re last. It’s a completely different world from before, where you could be a tenth behind your teammate and no one would have noticed,” says Vowles.
