F1 chief ‘surprisingly lukewarm’ on retaining £8m-a-year driver for next year despite already having 2026 contract

The Formula 1 driver’s market hasn’t been as big a topic of conversation this season but that could easily change.

Two driver swaps have already taken place in 2025, with Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson changing places at Red Bull and Racing Bulls and Alpine making a change after six races.

Jack Doohan lost his seat to Franco Colapinto although the Argentine hasn’t had the easiest time since making his second F1 debut.

Colapinto crashed during qualifying at Imola and was off the pace in Monaco before a technical issue ruined his chances of advancing beyond Q1 at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Flavio Briatore is the man he needs to impress, although David Coulthard has lauded Colapinto’s race pace in his two outings so far.

The F1 driver market was crazy last year after Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari and while a repeat of that is unlikely this season unless Max Verstappen decides to leave Red Bull, there are still seats at risk.

One of those seats could be on the other side of the garage at Alpine, with Pierre Gasly attempting to impress Briatore and make sure he’s still on the grid with the Anglo-French outfit in 2026.

READ MORE: Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Flavio Briatore ‘surprisingly lukewarm’ about Alpine driver Pierre Gasly

Journalist Pedro Fermin Flores was writing on his blog in the aftermath of qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.

He believes that the team are in the ‘midst of an evaluation process’ when it comes to deciding their driver line-up for 2026.

Flores suggests that Briatore has been ‘surprisingly lukewarm’ towards Gasly and his assessment of him this season.

Gasly has been impressed with Briatore’s introduction to the team and the Frenchman has scored all seven of Alpine’s points in 2025.

When Briatore was asked whether Gasly is a future F1 world champion, Briatore answered: “If you don’t have a competitive car, it’s very difficult to know the driver’s level. Car first, then we’ll see.”

The report goes on to say that Briatore is open to ‘any scenario’ for next season, which might explain why Sergio Perez has been linked with Alpine.

Briatore’s objective is to hire the ‘best drivers possible’ for 2026 and he’s willing to do whatever it takes this year to make that happen.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Pierre Gasly’s racing flaw has been exposed by Jolyon Palmer this season

Gasly has an £8m-a-year contract at Alpine that runs until at least the end of 2026.

He signed a contract extension halfway through last season when it became clear that Esteban Ocon was leaving the team to join Haas.

His fellow Frenchman will be pleased with his decision considering that he’s more than doubled Alpine’s points tally after the first eight race weekends.

Gasly has been a very solid driver throughout his F1 career and has one race win and five podiums to his name in 161 race starts.

However, Jolyon Palmer has spotted an issue with Gasly’s race craft that he’ll want to rectify sooner rather than later.

Guenther Steiner has become frustrated with Gasly as he can see the Frenchman’s potential but realises he keeps making one error.

Briatore has always been ruthless with his driver decisions throughout his career and putting Gasly under some increased pressure will tell him whether he can stick with the 29-year-old or if he needs to dip into the driver market again.