Flavio Briatore\u2019s recent comments about Franco Colapinto, at first glance, appear quite harsh on the Argentine driver, but there are shoots of optimism for the 22-year-old.<\/p>\n
With his future at Alpine and in F1 uncertain, Colapinto might have watched Flavio Briatore\u2019s recent press conference, in which the Italian spoke at length about him, somewhat aghast.<\/p>\n
Flavio Briatore: Maybe Franco Colapinto needed another year or two for F1<\/p>\n
While one side of the Alpine garage is the picture of calm, as Pierre Gasly has just signed off on a contract extension to remain with the Enstone-based squad until the end of 2028, the opposite side has been the subject of plenty of speculation almost ever since Jack Doohan put pen to paper on his deal to race for the squad in the latter stages of 2024.<\/p>\n
Almost immediately, the Australian came under pressure as Colapinto became a main player of the driver silly season, to the point where he was even briefly considered by Red Bull.<\/p>\n
In the end, with Colapinto going through some of the growing pains typical of a rookie driver thrown in at the deep end, Red Bull lost interest and, with no way into the Williams\u2019 driver line-up, Colapinto found refuge as Alpine\u2019s<\/a> reserve driver as Flavio Briatore liked what he saw and signed up the Argentine driver on a long-term deal.<\/p>\n Having someone of Colapinto\u2019s potential, combined with the potential financial aspect of having him in a race seat as well as the length of this deal (understood to be for five years), meant it was almost inevitable that Doohan would eventually have to give up his seat to Colapinto \u2013 that was despite the Australian showing clear progress relative to Gasly across his six races as a full-time F1 driver.<\/p>\n It\u2019s now been 10 race weekends since Colapinto got his chance and, on the face of it, it hasn\u2019t yet been a successful experiment. But, with no pre-season testing and with only some TPC mileage under his belt, it\u2019s hardly surprising Colapinto has largely struggled to find his feet, but there have been recent signs that he\u2019s starting to get there.<\/p>\n Couple his struggles with a car that has lacked performance in the first place, to the point where even Gasly is struggling to put in competitive drives, and Colapinto has had a very difficult return to F1.<\/p>\n Bear in mind that, while he did have a few races last year, he is a rookie thrown into a car without the benefit of proper pre-season preparation, all while he\u2019s had to try impressing a notoriously difficult-to-impress boss, in the face of expectation created entirely off the back of Colapinto\u2019s surprisingly strong start to life in F1 with Williams last year.<\/p>\n It\u2019s to Colapinto\u2019s credit that he hasn\u2019t completely crumbled under the weight of the expectation his own initial success created, and while there have been some mistakes and high-profile crashes (such as compromising a Pirelli tyre test in Hungary last month), recent races have seen Colapinto much more comparable to Gasly\u2019s pace, both in terms of single-lap and race pace.<\/p>\n At a time when Colapinto\u2019s confidence may be starting to turn around, Briatore\u2019s appearance in the FIA press conference at Zandvoort might not have been particularly conducive to continuing on that upward curve, as, on paper, the Italian\u2019s answers pertaining to Colapinto and his performance this year aren\u2019t hugely confidence-inspiring.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I see everything already,\u201d he said of Colapinto, when asked what he needs to see from his young charge in order to hang onto his seat for next year.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t need to see anything anymore. It\u2019s difficult. For this driver, it\u2019s very difficult to cope with this car. These cars are very, very heavy, very quick.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a young driver to put in Formula 1, maybe it was not the timing to have Franco in Formula 1. Maybe he needs another year or two to be part of Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that, in the end, what is important is the result. He tries very hard. He tries very hard with the engineers to please them in everything, but it\u2019s not what I expect from Colapinto.\u201d<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t make for pretty reading, but some broader context should be kept in mind. Not only is Briatore speaking in a secondary language, but he is also known for being blunt and matter-of-fact.<\/p>\n The no-nonsense former team boss also has proven in the past to have no problems dropping a driver when he feels like it \u2013 think about his decision to fire Jarno Trulli in late 2004, despite the Italian being a race winner and a point ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso after the first 15 races of the season.<\/p>\n If Briatore really wanted rid of Colapinto already, it\u2019s quite likely it would have already happened.<\/p>\n It\u2019s inarguable that Colapinto hasn\u2019t delivered at the level that may have been expected of him, and Briatore suggesting that he has would merely do the young driver a disservice.<\/p>\n Without being unnecessarily cruel, Briatore has outlined how he sees Colapinto after 10 race weekends \u2013 there\u2019s nothing dishonest or disingenuous about saying that Colapinto hasn\u2019t yet met expectations and that it\u2019s maybe been too much, too soon. Like in any job, criticism doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a boss is actively seeking to drop an employee, and Briatore\u2019s \u2018criticism\u2019 has been more matter-of-fact than outright negative towards his driver.<\/p>\n The weight of expectation is perhaps what has been Colapinto\u2019s biggest hurdle to overcome so far in F1. When he arrived with Williams last year, replacing the browbeaten Logan Sargeant, there was no expectation or hype around the Argentine. His early points finishes, his sudden emergence as a linked name to empty seats with big teams\u2026 it created a wave of expectation that Colapinto clearly didn\u2019t initially respond well to, but has been fighting diligently to bounce back from ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, he had two or three races with James [Vowles], where he did very well,\u201d Briatore acknowledged.<\/p>\n \u201cBut maybe to be in the team with a good driver like Pierre, and always in competition with the teammate, maybe we put too much pressure on him. I think we need to consider that.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes we believe\u2026 the driver is a human being and we need to understand what\u2019s going on in the heads of these kids. These are young kids \u00a0\u2013 19, 20, 22, 23 years old \u2013 and I think it\u2019s our mistake to underestimate the human part of the driver.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always looking at the timing. Maybe I missed something in the management of the driver, Colapinto. For the future, honestly, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the history of Formula 1<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Ranked: Five of the most infamous team orders calls in F1 history<\/a><\/p>\n