{"id":440894,"date":"2026-01-29T13:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/440894\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T13:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:19:08","slug":"insights-from-flavio-briatores-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/440894\/","title":{"rendered":"Insights from Flavio Briatore’s Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

(GMM) Flavio Briatore has moved to shut down speculation about Franco Colapinto\u2019s (pictured together) future at Alpine, joking that he has \u201clost\u201d the button used to change drivers.<\/p>\n

Colapinto endured a difficult 2025 after being promoted mid-season at the expense of Jack Doohan, who has now left Alpine altogether and is now heading to Super Formula in Japan.<\/p>\n

But with reserve Paul Aron waiting in the wings, rumors of another change had begun to circulate.<\/p>\n

Speaking to RTVE<\/a>, Briatore said those doubts have eased.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve forgotten the driver change button,\u201d he joked. \u201cI\u2019ve lost it, it\u2019s disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Briatore said Colapinto\u2019s main weakness remains qualifying, not race pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cFranco\u2019s problem is qualifying. In the race, he\u2019s competitive,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see that he\u2019s on par with Pierre Gasly there, he has the same speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working hard with him and he\u2019s changing a lot, he\u2019s maturing quickly. You can already see it in his face \u2013 he\u2019s more mature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"BWT Alpine F1 drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. Image supplied by BWT Alpine F1<\/p>\n

The Alpine advisor added that Colapinto has changed markedly since arriving in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year he was a kid who\u2019d just arrived from the Pampas. Now he\u2019s much more aggressive, much stronger,\u201d Briatore said. \u201cHe\u2019s more interested in telemetry and the engineers\u2019 data, he spends a lot of time in the wind tunnel and he\u2019s very disciplined.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just needs to focus on qualifying. Sometimes he gets too excited. He needs to relax and make sure he does well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Briatore stressed that the team remains committed to Colapinto.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids come to Formula 1 with a lot of pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cHe suffered a bit more, but he\u2019s at the same level as everyone else now. We can work with him \u2013 that\u2019s why we put him in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Briatore also spoke about long-time client Fernando Alonso, who turns 45 this year and is entering a crucial season with Aston Martin.<\/p>\n

\u201cFernando is incredible and very competitive,\u201d Briatore said. \u201cHe can easily continue for another year or two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rejecting comparisons between Alonso and Colapinto, Briatore added: \u201cYoung Fernando was a phenomenon. We\u2019re talking about someone like Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, or today Max Verstappen. It\u2019s too soon to think that young Franco \u2026 besides, the old Alonso is good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked who he would back if Alpine cannot win in 2026, Briatore did not hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hundred percent, I want Fernando to win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(GMM) Flavio Briatore has moved to shut down speculation about Franco Colapinto\u2019s (pictured together) future at Alpine, joking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-440894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}