Flavio Briatore may have to rethink Franco Colapinto plans after what’s just happened in Alpine sponsor talks

Franco Colapinto is hoping to return to the Formula 1 grid in 2025. He’ll be in attendance at the Australian Grand Prix, but will be watching on from the Alpine garage.

Colapinto has joined as reserve driver, having made nine appearances for Williams last season as a replacement for Logan Sargeant. On the face of it, it’s a sideways move.

However, Colapinto may see the opportunity for a swift promotion at Enstone. The door is shut at his old team after Carlos Sainz joined Alex Albon, who’s recently extended his contract.

Reports claim Doohan has only signed a six-race contract, and he already made an early debut in Abu Dhabi last year. It’s unclear what target has been set for the early races, but if he doesn’t meet it, he could be replaced by Colapinto.

Indeed, one journalist expects Doohan to lose his seat before the Miami Grand Prix. But a fresh report from Motorsport.com suggests it isn’t necessarily clearcut.

Doohan has already snapped at the media over repeated question about Colapinto. Many feel sympathetic towards the Australian, who is under intense pressure before his career has truly started.

Alpine’s talks with Franco Colapinto’s sponsors are hitting a snag – good news for Jack Doohan?

Last month, Alpine announced a partnership with Colapinto’s personal sponsors Mercado Libre. Clearly, that looked ominous for Doohan.

De facto team boss Flavio Briatore expected to strike more deals in the Argentine market. But it’s not quite panned out that way so far.

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The report states that Alpine’s discussions with Globant haven’t progressed because they already sponsor F1 as a whole. And an agreement with oil company YPF appears unrealistic after Briatore signed with competitors Eni.

As such, there’s now ‘some doubt’ over whether Colapinto’s backers will ‘flood Alpine with cash’. There’s ‘no sign’ of any more deals, which may force Briatore to rethink his driver plans.

Flavio Briatore’s telling gesture amid Jack Doohan questions at Bahrain test

Ability-wise, Colapinto and Doohan appear closely matched. As the table below shows, the latter boasted a stronger record in Formula 2, a nominally equal-cars championship, so without an overwhelming commercial incentive, is there really a case to swap the two?

Briatore and his engineers analysed Doohan’s data after the Abu Dhabi GP and were concerned Colapinto’s superior pace in an inferior, slightly damaged car. This could simply be put down to the gap in experience, however.

At F1 testing, Briatore simply looked at his watch in response to questions about Doohan. That would have been a worrying sight for his new signing.

David Croft has urged Alpine to publicly back Doohan to quiet the noise. That still seems unlikely, but the sponsorship difficulties have given the 22-year-old a hidden boost.