As Franco Colapinto faces intense speculation regarding his F1 future, Fernando Alonso has told the rookie driver that he has to accept there will be “criticism” and to focus on improving his results.
Colapinto was handed a Formula 1 lifeline by Alpine when Flavio Briatore signed the Argentine driver as one of its reserves for the F1 2025 season.
Fernando Alonso: You have to be ready to accept some criticism
Almost from the get-go, the writing was on the wall that it was only a matter of time before Colapinto climbed into Jack Doohan’s race seat.
That happened at Round 7, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as he replaced Doohan ahead of a five-race audition with Briatore setting out three criteria for him to hold onto the race seat.
He said the driver “needs to be fast, not crash, and score points,” adding: “I’m only asking him these three things – not 10. If he does them well, he’ll drive forever.”
But while Colapinto is 0 for 3, this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will be his seventh race for Alpine.
F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers
👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship
👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings
The pressure is on the 22-year-old to score his first points amid rumours that Valtteri Bottas could replace him before the season is over, potentially after the summer break. PlanetF1.com understands from sources close to the situation that Alpine have held positive talks with the Mercedes reserve driver.
Colapinto has reportedly been told he will remain in the car for the second part of the final double-header before the break, the Hungarian Grand Prix, and spoke of “looking to maximise the next two weekends” in Alpine’s Spa preview.
Failing to score a single point, the Argentine racer has come in for some criticism from pundits and former drivers, with Christian Danner recently stating that the only reason he’s in the car instead of Doohan is “called dollars”.
He added to sport.de: “A chunk of money and the potential of an Argentine Grand Prix depend on him. It has nothing to do with the sport.”
It’s criticism that double World Champion Alonso says Colapinto, and every other young driver, has to take on the chin.
“Yeah, little advice,” he said in Spa. “For sure, it’s an extremely competitive environment, Formula 1, but also any elite sport.
“So you have to be ready to deliver your best performance every day, and when you don’t deliver the performance, you have to be ready to accept some criticism and try to get better.
“But in Formula 1, I think we have a lot of support from our teams, our engineers, the technology, the data. So, I don’t think that is a bad place to work as a driver, and try to get better every day.”
As for lesson number two, Alonso says drivers have to accept there’s a very good chance they won’t win in Formula 1.
He continued: “It’s true that we all want to win. And if you get to Formula 1, it’s because in your past you had opportunities to win in karting or in the junior formulas.
“Then you have the opportunity to get to Formula 1, and then you get to Formula 1, and there is only one guy winning normally for a period of five or six years time, because they are dominating.
“So this is the only thing that you have to manage and have to control that frustration, you need to still deliver in the 100 per cent knowing that you will not win.”
Colapinto insists he’s ready for the challenge of doing what’s required to retain the Alpine race seat.
“It’s been good to have a break, to reset and to go back to the factory, work a bit with the guys, and really focus on what we need to improve,” he said. “Keep working with the engineers and everyone back at the factory. Was a good little break to reset so ready for Spa.”
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