Flavio Briatore undermines Alpine’s five-race claim for Franco Colapinto: ‘No set limit’

Flavio Briatore has contradicted Alpine’s announcement that Franco Colapinto is on a five-race deal after replacing Jack Doohan for this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

After the Miami Grand Prix, Alpine announced Colapinto would take Doohan’s seat for the next five races.

Colapinto’s promotion was always inevitable after joining the team as their test and reserve driver at the start of the year.

The Argentine starred during his short stint with Williams in 2024, replacing Logan Sargeant for the Italian Grand Prix.

His form attracted the attention of Alpine and Red Bull, with the former ultimately signing him as one of their reserve drivers for 2025.

Alpine’s statement when announcing the news made it clear on two occasions that Colapinto is on a five-race deal.

Alpine wrote: “Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races.”

Later in the statement, they added: “The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”

Briatore has now gone against his team’s statement.

“I have to say, I also expected more from Jack Doohan - maybe he needs a break,” Briatore said to Sky Italy on Friday at Imola.

“Franco will race as much as needed - I read somewhere that he’ll have five races, but no, there’s no set limit on his races. He needs to be fast, not crash, and score points.  I’m only asking him these three things - not 10.

“If he does them well, he’ll drive forever.”

Briatore addresses Oakes departure

Just 24 hours before the Colapinto decision was announced, team principal Oliver Oakes resigned.

Initially, it was suggested that Oakes and Briatore had a falling out, potentially over Alpine’s driver line-up.

However, Briatore clarified via his Instagram account that his relationship with Oakes remained intact.

“His resignation came after Miami due to a personal issue, and when it happened, I didn’t expect it either,” Briatore added.

“This is a united team - there were rumours that I had argued with Oliver, but that’s not true - we have a great relationship.”