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Franco Colapinto has been testing for Alpine at Silverstone after a difficult start to the 2026 F1 season.
Colapinto scored his first point for the Enstone outfit at the Chinese GP but the two races either side have been tricky. He finished 14th in Australia and 16th in Japan after qualifying in the lower midfield.
Pierre Gasly has beaten him in all eight competitive sessions so far, dominating the intra-team head-to-head even more than he did last season. Gasly has scored points in all three races, demonstrating the car’s full potential at the head of the midfield.
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Flavio Briatore lines up Alpine test for Franco Colapinto
Alpine used their second permitted filming day at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, on Wednesday. Their programme was capped at 200km by the regulations, but they were able to test their upgrade package for the Miami GP.
According to Motorsport IT, Briatore chose Colapinto over Gasly for the test because he knows that he ‘needs the most training’. Gasly is in ‘excellent form’ but the Argentine is lagging behind.
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But will fans continue to blame the team given Briatore’s controversial past?
While teams often split running between two drivers on such occasions, Briatore clearly feels that Colapinto will benefit from additional mileage.
McLaren and Mercedes have also been on track this week for a tyre test at the Nurburgring, while Ferrari are heading to Monza next week for a filming day.
Franco Colapinto could be the most vulnerable driver on the F1 grid
Even at the season opener in Australia, one Alpine insider said Colapinto is not ‘on the same level’ as Gasly. With the team battling for a top-five spot in the constructors’, they need production from both drivers.
Briatore is notoriously impatient with drivers but he has given Colapinto the best part of a year since he replaced Jack Doohan. The Argentine survived a scoreless 2025, partly due to Alpine having the slowest car on the grid, but expectations have increased, in line with the team’s improvements.
Colapinto has not met that standard so far. After Japan, the team even had to put out a statement insisting he was receiving equal equipment in response to accusations from his fanbase.
With Colapinto’s future already in doubt, this only gives the team another reason to consider a change.
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