Franco Colapinto acknowledges that Flavio Briatore’s methods can sometimes be brutal, but the Alpine driver believes that this demand is precisely what the team needs to progress.
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For the Argentine, Alpine’s goal should not simply be to dominate the midfield, but rather to gradually reduce the gap with Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren.
“I believe in his process,” he assures. You have to understand it. But I think that to succeed in F1 and achieve the goal of all midfield teams, which is to catch up with Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren, you need someone like Flavio.”
Maintaining the pressure
Colapinto takes the Canadian Grand Prix as an example. Alpine had achieved an excellent result with sixth and eighth places, but Briatore was far from sharing the general enthusiasm: “We finished sixth and eighth in Canada, which represented a lot of points for the team, but after the race, Flavio was absolutely not satisfied and kept putting pressure on the team. He was almost the most dissatisfied person in the entire team.”
The reason? Briatore was less focused on the raw result than on the gap separating Alpine from the leading teams: “It was because of our delay behind Ferrari compared to Miami. He wanted to understand why. Everyone was really happy with the points, but he said: ‘No, no, I want more. I don’t like our position and Racing Bulls are also way too close to us.’”
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Colapinto thus describes Briatore as a true “competition animal,” unable to be satisfied with a good result if it does not reflect sufficient progress: “Putting this pressure on the team, even when things are going well, is his way of leading. And personally, I think it’s a way to succeed in F1 and catch up with the best teams.”
Future momentum
The Alpine driver is nevertheless satisfied with the progress made this season, even if he also refuses to consider leading the midfield as an end goal: “I am very proud of the progress we have made, but we are all very competitive and we are not satisfied just because we are ahead in the midfield. It’s true that the progress has been huge this year, but we always want more.”
Colapinto also believes that the new partnerships concluded by Alpine, including the one with Gucci, reflect the current momentum of the project: “A lot of good things are happening right now, with new partnerships and many other things around us. The deal with Gucci is part of it and it is important. So yes, I think it shows that the direction we are currently taking is the right one.”
Recall that the young Argentine is still not confirmed for 2027, unlike Gasly, and he could be considered in the event of a return of Fernando Alonso to Enstone, who is said to be favored by Gucci. In that case, he could return to Williams as he was on loan at Alpine.
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