Franco Colapinto mid-season axe risk confirmed as Alpine future uncertain

Alpine boss Flavio Briatore has confirmed that Franco Colapinto is at risk of being axed mid-season in 2025 as uncertainty shrouds the young Argentine’s Formula 1 future.

Colapinto replaced an under-performing Jack Doohan at Alpine for the foreseeable future after the Miami GP, but has failed to yield better results than his predecessor in his first three races back in the sport.

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The 22-year-old also crashed during his first qualifying session with Alpine at the Emilia-Romagna GP, which has led to doubts for team boss Briatore.

"He had a crash at the first race weekend. If I were to say now that I was happy, that would be a lie. I'm not happy at all," Briatore told Sky Germany during the Spanish GP last weekend in Barcelona.

"Of course, we also have to recognise that Franco is very young and has a lot of pressure from all directions, not just from Argentina.

"Now he has gradually found his feet, he drove in Monaco. He was in the factory and in the simulator. This [Spain] is now the first real race where we'll see what he can do.

"Franco is strong enough. In this job you have to be able to get your confidence back as quickly as possible. So I hope he can do that quickly and get back on track."

Briatore fuels confusion over Colapinto's F1 contract

Speaking earlier that weekend ahead of the Spanish GP however, Briatore confirmed in an FIA press conference that Colapinto was at risk of a mid-season axe, although the Alpine boss was clear this was entirely dependent on how the youngster continues to perform.

"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 declared, continuing to go against the five-race contract Alpine announced they had given Colapinto when the driver swap was first initiated.

The 75-year-old then teased further experiments over Alpine's ideal driver lineup ahead of the new regulations entering the sport next year, saying: "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.

"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."

Colapinto is yet to score a point in his career with Alpine, emerging from Barcelona in P15 whilst his team-mate Pierre Gasly picked up four points and eighth place.

Alpine's newest star admitted he had areas to improve on after the Spanish GP and named track position at the start of the race as crucial to his future success, his weekend undone by starting last on the grid.

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