Briatore Hails Colapinto As Potential Top Driver After Complete Change Of Heart

Franco Colapinto’s turnaround in form has prompted Alpine F1 boss Flavio Briatore to completely reverse his opinion of the Argentine driver.
During the 2025 season, Colapinto’s future in Formula 1 looked deeply uncertain following a string of crashes that plagued his campaign throughout the year.
Team-mate Pierre Gasly scored all 22 of Alpine’s points across the 2025 season, while Colapinto ended the championship as the only active driver without a single point to his name.
Briatore had made his concerns publicly clear ahead of the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, raising the very real possibility of a mid-season axe for the young driver.
Speaking to the media at that time, Briatore said: “I don’t know, honestly. I never tell five races, three races, four races, one race. We see. If Colapinto is performing he’s driving the car.”
Briatore continued: “If not, we’ll see. 2025 is a year we need to prepare ourselves for 2026. So whatever experiment I need doing, we’re doing.”
The Alpine boss added: “I don’t know at this moment if Franco will stay for the season or not, but let’s see. Depends on the performance. We’re only looking at the performance — nothing else.”
That blunt assessment now looks like a distant memory, with Colapinto’s 2026 performances forcing a dramatic shift in Briatore’s thinking.
The Argentine has secured three points finishes in 2026, including a seventh place in Miami and a sixth place in Canada, with those back-to-back top ten results impressing the Alpine hierarchy.
Colapinto currently sits just five points behind Gasly in the drivers’ standings, and their combined efforts have helped lift Alpine to fifth place in the constructors’ championship.
Briatore has now heaped praise on the driver he once threatened to drop, speaking with considerable admiration about the performances Colapinto has delivered this season.
As per The Race’s Jonathan Noble, Briatore said: “Franco, honestly, I believe he has the talent to be one of the top drivers.”
Briatore was particularly impressed by Colapinto’s showing in Canada, highlighting the circumstances surrounding the weekend as a sign of real quality.
The Alpine chief explained: “In Canada he’s done a super job. On Friday he did not do FP1 because he had a problem with the battery.”
Briatore concluded: “Then he jumped in the car, qualified and got in the top ten. Stuff like this is not usual, not for a driver doing stuff like that.”
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