P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Franco Colapinto mid-season axe risk confirmed as Alpine future uncertain
Alpine team principal Flavio Briatore acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding Franco Colapinto’s future in Formula 1, hinting at a possible mid-season replacement in 2025 due to the young Argentine’s struggles to deliver better results than his predecessor Jack Doohan. Briatore expressed dissatisfaction with Colapinto’s performance, particularly highlighting a crash during his first qualifying session at the Emilia-Romagna GP. Despite recognizing Colapinto’s youth and the pressures he faces, Briatore emphasized the need for the driver to regain confidence quickly. While Briatore refrained from confirming a specific timeframe for Colapinto’s potential ousting, he emphasized that performance would be the determining factor. Colapinto, still without a point for Alpine, acknowledged the need for improvement, pinpointing track position at the start of races as crucial for his future success. Briatore hinted at further lineup experiments ahead of the new regulations in 2026, underscoring the team’s focus on performance above all else.
