Flavio Briatore believes there’s not a driver on the grid, not even Max Verstappen, who could erase Alpine’s deficit.
Instead, he says Alpine has to focus on improving the car and the team’s process, such as pit stops, and then he’ll give some thought to who will partner Pierre Gasly next season.
Flavio Briatore says Alpine’s problems go beyond drivers
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Last season, Gasly signed a three-year contract extension covering 2026 to 2028.
Alpine also took up its option on Franco Colapinto for this year’s championship. The Argentine, though, is not guaranteed a seat for next season.
Briatore is not yet ready to have the driver conversation.
Alpine sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship after five race weekends, with Gasly and Colapinto having scored 35 points with the Frenchman ahead of his teammate in the Drivers’ standings.
The results, though, are not what Briatore wants from the team.
Although it is a notable improvement on last year’s performances, his drivers have yet to beat Mercedes’ leading customer, McLaren, in qualifying. In the last two Grand Prix qualifying sessions, Miami and Canada, the fastest Alpine driver was on average seven-tenths down on the lead McLaren driver.
As such, Briatore says his priority, and Alpine’s money, is focused on improving the car, and only then will he consider his driver line-up.
After all, even Verstappen couldn’t close Alpine’s current gap to McLaren.
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“We are better, but I’m not happy in the way we are in this moment, because we [should have done] much better with what we have,” he said.
“You have McLaren with the same engine we have, you have Mercedes with the same engine, and we are six, seven tenths behind.
“So, we’re improving, but we’re not improving like I want. This is the problem we have in this moment.
“Driver is less improving the package, after the driver. We have the contract with Pierre. We need looking at Colapinto.
“But the car is much more important in this moment.
“Sure, the driver made a difference. If you have one guy like maybe Max, make you two tenths, three tenths. If you are seven, eight tenths behind, you don’t have any driver makes this difference.
“So let’s work on the car, let’s work on the pit stop, let’s work in doing much, much better aerodynamics on our car.
“And after, we’re talking about driver.
“Driver, for me, is the last part, is the last bit. If you need to put the financial effort, you need to put the effort where you have the possibility to win.”
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