Alpine boss Flavio Briatore in awe of rival F1 driver who turns into a ‘lion’ out on track

Flavio Briatore has reshuffled his Alpine driver line-up ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He’s dropped Jack Doohan back into a reserve role and promoted Franco Colapinto.

Officially, Briatore isn’t an employee of the Alpine team. Instead, he’s an advisor to Luca de Meo, the CEO of owners Renault.

That direct line to De Meo means that Briatore effectively calls the shots at Enstone. His responsibilities may have increased following the departure of Oliver Oakes.

The decision to axe Doohan after just six weekends has been attributed to Briatore. Colapinto offers Alpine a commercial ‘boom’ and also showed glimpses of his talent at Williams last year.

The French brand have only got seven points on the board, which leaves them second from bottom in the championship. Pierre Gasly, who’s responsible for 100% of that tally, is P12 in the drivers’.

Flavio Briatore calls Kimi Antonelli F1’s best rookie in 2025

De Meo clearly places a great deal of stock in Briatore’s opinion because of his track record in F1. He won two titles with Michael Schumacher at Benetton, and another double with Fernando Alonso at Renault.

Now Kimi Antonelli is being proclaimed as F1’s next superstar. Antonelli became the youngest pole-sitter in any format when he set the pace in Miami Sprint qualifying.

Speaking to Sky Italy, Briatore labelled the 18-year-old the best rookie on the 2025 grid. He said: “Antonelli on the track becomes a lion.”

The paddock veteran may wish that he could sign the F2 graduate. Unfortunately for him, Toto Wolff seems committed to Antonelli long-term, with George Russell looking like the most likely casualty if Mercedes move for Max Verstappen.

Why Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington has ‘opened up’ since Kimi Antonelli joined

Russell sent a ‘special’ message to Antonelli ahead of his home race this weekend. Monza is the venue for the Italian Grand Prix, but Imola is closer to the Mercedes driver’s birthplace of Bologna.

Some Italian drivers have been booed for beating Ferrari in the past. But there’s no indication that Antonelli will receive a frosty reception from the Tifosi.

While he’s the third-youngest driver in F1 history, he’s benefitting from the vast experience of engineer Peter Bonnington, who’s previously worked with Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli says Bonnington is ‘opening up’ this year as he takes a different approach to his new assignment. They celebrated the first major milestone of their partnership in Miami, and now the podium will be their target.