Briatore: We helped Bottas sign a contract with Cadillac.

      One of the main news items of the week is the official confirmation of Cadillac F1's driver lineup for the debut season of the new American team. In this context, everyone heard some rather curious comments from Flavio Briatore, who took part in today's FIA press conference.

      He was asked there whether Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez had been considered as candidates for a seat at Alpine F1, with the acting head of Renault’s works team being asked this after a remark by Toto Wolff, who said, "credit where it's due to Flavio, he also played his part in the story of Cadillac's lineup."

      "Actually no, although Toto and I discussed it," Briatore replied. "But the question of Bottas becoming an Alpine driver was never really posed. I think we just helped Valtteri a bit to sign the contract with Cadillac" (he laughs). "We did something on the marketing front — that was the only reason!

      "I like Valtteri, he's a great driver, and Toto says the same. Bottas was unlucky to have raced at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton when he was at the peak of his powers. We're glad Valtteri is returning to the championship, but we have a different idea regarding our team's lineup, and we're going to approach that differently."

      As for Franco Colapinto's future prospects, Briatore said the following: "Drivers in general find it very difficult to cope with our car. Cars of this generation are very heavy, yet very fast, and perhaps we were hasty in putting him behind the wheel. Maybe a driver as young as Franco should have spent another year as a reserve.

      "Only results matter, and so far we haven't seen the results we expected from Colapinto... Perhaps the pressure was too much for him, although we did see that before Alpine he had a pretty good two or three races (last year at Williams). But now he has become the teammate of such a good driver as Pierre Gasly, and perhaps we are putting too much pressure on him.

      "But you must understand that drivers are people too, and you have to try harder to understand what sometimes happens with their psychological state. After all, when a driver is 18 or in their early 20s, he will inevitably make mistakes. You cannot ignore the human factor, and perhaps in working with Colapinto I missed something."

      Briatore declined to comment further on who might become Gasly's teammate at Alpine F1 in 2026.