Alpine's Flavio Briatore pressures Argentine driver Franco Colapinto

Flavio Briatore, the Alpine F1 team principal, says he will keep pressure on 23‑year‑old Argentine driver Franco Colapinto as the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix approaches. Colapinto has shown recent improvement, scoring points at the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix and reaching 15 championship points after three point‑finishes in five races.

Briatore highlighted that the driver’s future with Alpine remains uncertain. Colapinto debuted in 2024 with Williams, scoring points as a mid‑season replacement, but struggled after joining Alpine in 2025, lagging behind teammate Pierre Gasly and being involved in crashes at Emilia Romagna, Britain and São Paulo. Briatore also criticised Alpine’s chassis and aerodynamics, noting the team shares a power unit with Mercedes and McLaren but is six‑seven tenths slower, and stressed that the car, not the driver, is the main issue to address before judging Colapinto’s performance.