Kolapinto: Thanks to Flavio Briatore, I learned a lot.

      Recently, Flavio Briatore spoke highly of Franco Colapinto, and we quoted his words. On Thursday, in the paddock of the Red Bull Ring, the Argentine Alpine F1 driver was asked what he thinks about it…

      Franco Colapinto: “Of course, it’s nice to hear that; Flavio has been a great support to me. Last year, the team went through quite a few tough moments, and as the team principal, he obviously wants his drivers to achieve good results.

      I think he helped me overcome difficulties, achieve improvements, and deal with unfavorable situations. Because of this, I learned a lot, I perform with much more confidence, and I am growing professionally. Although I didn’t participate in all the races last season, the experience I gained in 2025 helped me bring everything together this year, become much stronger, and work better with the team.

      Flavio has always demanded this from me, and now I believe in myself and my abilities much more. Much of this has been achieved thanks to him, because he believes in me. He has achieved great success in our sport, and it’s always interesting and fun to listen to him, and there’s always something to learn from him.

      In that interview, Flavio talked about how he helped me find the right direction for development, and I always pay attention to his comments. We haven’t discussed prospects for 2027 yet, as we are focusing all our attention on each race individually, including this weekend, where we are primarily preparing for the upcoming stage. We need to try to extract the maximum speed from the car that it is capable of, although, in my opinion, we should continue to work with the A526 and achieve further improvements.

      Flavio is not inclined to change his mindset, and when we finished in 6th place, he came to the team’s base and stated that he was completely dissatisfied, and we need to show higher results. He wants us to fight for podiums, and I like that. If last year the goal was at least to reach the top ten, now we should be aiming for podiums and victories in races.

      That’s how he leads the team, guiding it forward, and we all work in the same direction, striving for higher results and wanting to close the gap with the top teams. Unfortunately, it is still quite large, but we are trying to understand what it is related to and in which specific areas we need to improve.”