Flavio Briatore has put Franco Colapinto’s 2027 Alpine future on a summer-break clock after praising the Argentine’s progress with the Enstone team.
The Alpine executive adviser used Formula 1’s Beyond The Grid platform to make clear that Colapinto is no longer just fighting to prove he belongs in the seat. He is now being judged as part of a possible longer-term line-up with Pierre Gasly.
Colapinto has moved from a difficult, point-less 2025 campaign into a far stronger second season, with F1 noting top-10 finishes in China, Miami, Canada and Barcelona-Catalunya, plus a best career result of sixth in Canada.
Why Alpine’s Call Matters
Briatore said Alpine have “plenty of races” before the end of August and that the team will decide before the summer break, provided Colapinto keeps performing and the working relationship with Gasly stays strong.
That matters because Alpine’s driver market noise has followed Colapinto since his first races with the team. A public vote of confidence from Briatore changes the tone: Alpine are no longer talking only about survival, but about whether their current pairing can become the base of the next phase at Enstone.
The full context came in Formula 1’s official report on Briatore’s Colapinto comments, published before the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
