Franco Colapinto’s Alpine Formula 1 debut was an average affair, starting 16th and finishing 16th in Imola.
The Argentine has been given five races to prove himself to Alpine, after they took the bold decision to replace Jack Doohan after just six races.
Colapinto had been waiting in the wings as a reserve driver and showed potential last season with Williams.
Now, he has just four more races to prove his value or else his Formula 1 career could be over without ever being given a full-time chance.
Colapinto’s Alpine testing has been worrying, after suffering multiple crashes, which seems to prove that his inconsistencies have not been cured yet.
Paul Aron has left Alpine staff ‘genuinely impressed’ and could be next in line for an opportunity, should yet another driver fail to seize his shot.
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Flavio Briatore’s view on Franco Colapinto might leave Jack Doohan gutted after Imola
Flavio Briatore recently returned to the helm at Alpine after a 16-year absence, following the resignation of Oliver Oakes.
He knows the team pretty well from his championship-winning days in the 2000s, and might be the right man to lead the Enstone-based outfit back to the front.
The boss has a notoriously cutthroat attitude, and he has displayed it recently with his driver choices. He’s not afraid to put pressure on the youth.
Speaking to DAZN before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he demonstrated patience with Colapinto which might leave Doohan gutted and thinking ‘where was this with me?’.
“It happens, however, he did well in the first race. We need to be patient for a moment. Generally good, he has worked well, he understood that he made a mistake.
“Formula 1 is difficult, especially for young guys like him who just arrived. Anyway, to the support of my team, of everyone. I don’t know [if he’ll last five races], we’ll decide that later. We will see.”
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Did Jack Doohan deserve longer to prove himself in Formula 1 with Alpine?
There were times when Doohan was really close to his far more experienced race-winning teammate Pierre Gasly.
Although he was a bit accident-happy, he’s a rookie and it was going to take time for him to become a dependable driver.
It’s hard to see whether Colapinto is truly an upgrade, especially given his heavy crash during qualifying in Imola.
For a team which changes team principals very frequently, it feels as if the destabilisation is now taking effect with their drivers too.
They won’t be getting near the constructors’ championship until they find some consistency, which feels like a far cry currently.
