Franco Colapinto asks for patience and draws comparisons with Hamilton and Sainz: After finishing 13th in Monaco, he hopes for a better-suited Alpine car in Barcelona
Franco Colapinto is facing his third race weekend of 2025 in Barcelona – and the young Argentine knows that patience is key. After two unremarkable performances for Alpine, where he replaced Jack Doohan, Colapinto is now striking a self-critical but reflective tone.
“I just need a little more time. Even drivers like Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton say that they are not yet getting the most out of the car after changing teams. And they are world-class drivers. So I’m on a similar path.”
James Vowles, his former Williams team boss, strikes a similar note: “I think when Carlos comes here, for example, a world-class driver, it takes time to get up to speed in the car. And he [Colapinto] joined halfway through the season, just like he did with us. He had some races that were very strong and some races that needed a little more time. It takes time to get used to a car.”
Monaco as a character test
Colapinto may have earned some sympathy points in Monaco with a clean performance and a respectable 13th place after qualifying in P20, but one thing is clear: he was never in contention for points. “If someone had told me before the race that I would finish P13, I would have signed up for that right away. That was a good result for us on this track, even though we obviously want more.“
But for Colapinto, the way he achieved the result was more important than the result itself: ”Getting the car to the finish line in one piece was not a given in Monaco. There were a lot of accidents and a lot of retirements. Completing the entire weekend without any incidents was a big step for me.”
Hopes for progress in Barcelona
With the next race in Barcelona, the 21-year-old is now cautiously optimistic for the first time: “I think we have a strong car in the high-speed sections – that will suit us better here in Barcelona.”
Nevertheless, Colapinto knows that he still has a long way to go before he can unlock the full potential of his car: “It’s a completely different car to the one I drove last year. Understanding comes step by step – I’m trying to get more out of it every weekend and analyze where I can improve.”
Flavio Briatore as a mentor
Another topic that is causing a stir around Colapinto is his close relationship with Flavio Briatore, the new strong man in the Alpine team. “It’s a great honor that someone like Flavio believes in me so much and supports me. He mentored Schumi and Fernando Alonso – and now I’m in his sights. That naturally gives me extra motivation to show what I can do.”
Looking at the driver data so far, however, Colapinto needs to improve. On average, the Argentine is currently 0.68 seconds behind his teammate Pierre Gasly in qualifying and 0.41 seconds per lap in race pace. By comparison, Jack Doohan was previously 0.45 seconds behind in qualifying and 0.35 seconds behind in the race.