Anxious Franco Colapinto involved in ‘awkward’ two-word interview as Alpine future in the balance

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Franco Colapinto suffered another major setback with Alpine as he spun out of qualifying at the British Grand Prix.

The Argentine came into the weekend in desperate need of a strong result. He is yet to score for the Enstone outfit since replacing Jack Doohan after the Miami Grand Prix.

Alpine are last in the constructors’ championship with just 11 points. A team insider said that Colapinto is losing too much time to Pierre Gasly, with the Frenchman having scored all of their points thus far in 2025.

Flavio Briatore is increasing the pressure on Colapinto as he faces uncertainty surrounding his future in F1. The 21-year-old’s initial five-race deal passed after the Austrian GP, but for now at least, he will remain in the seat.

Alpine will want to see Colapinto find improvements at the British Grand Prix, as the team have not scored any points with the second car thus far. But the 21-year-old suffered another disaster as he spun during Q1.

Franco Colapinto had pain and worry ‘etched all over his face’ after British Grand Prix disaster

The Argentine was in P19 in the opening qualifying session when he spun out at the end of the lap. He sped into the gravel trap and had a small impact with the barriers. He was able to get the car going again, but was ordered to stop the car.

Briatore had his head in his hands on the pit wall as he watched his driver qualify at the back of the grid again. With his future hanging in the balance, journalist Jennie Gow noted how his face was full of ‘pain and worry’ as he could only manage two words in their interview.

“It was one of those awkward conversations you have where you just feel for him [Franco Colapinto]. You can see the pain and the worry and anxiousness etched all over his face,” she said via BBC Sport.

“I asked him if he felt frustrated by that and he simply said “yes”. And I asked ‘have you had a chance to speak to the team?’ He said “no” and that was that.

“He just looks like his heart is breaking. He came into this season with so much hope and then he got the seat and so much excitement around that.”

READ MORE: Who is Alpine 2025 F1 driver Franco Colapinto? Everything you need to know

Damon Hill loved what the crowd did after Franco Colapinto spun in qualifying at Silverstone

Briatore ‘assured’ Colapinto he still had his trust, but that might have been dented by another mistake in qualifying. He now has his work cut out for the race on Sunday, as rumours have ramped up about his future.

Alpine have been linked with Valtteri Bottas as Briatore is said to be interested in the Finn. Having the prospect of being replaced hanging over him will not be a nice feeling for Colapinto, hence why Damon Hill loved seeing the crowd cheer as he got his car out of the gravel.

He said via BBC Sport: “I’ll be interested to hear if they say you should have pulled off the track somewhere and parked it, because you’re interrupting the session or it may be an unsafe car.

“But one thing I did like was the cheer from the crowd as [Franco Colapinto] came back on to the track, everyone loved that. But he’s parked up, he’s not made all the way back.”