When Alpine look set to make Franco Colapinto future decision after ‘silly’ British Grand Prix mistake

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Alpine driver Franco Colapinto didn’t get the chance to impress as he would have wanted at the British Grand Prix.

After his initial five-race run with Alpine came to an end, Franco Colapinto still hadn’t scored his first point of the season.

The British Grand Prix offered the Argentine driver the opportunity to do so, and teammate Pierre Gasly proved it was possible with an exceptional performance during Sunday’s race.

However, Colapinto’s bright start at Silverstone was quickly dashed after crashing during the first part of qualifying.

It meant he was going to start from the back of the grid, until he mysteriously failed to get going after the formation lap.

Colapinto now faces further questions about his Formula 1 future, as Valtteri Bottas has been linked with a move to Alpine.

However, journalist Jon Noble doesn’t believe that the 22-year-old is in any immediate danger of being dropped by team boss Flavio Briatore.

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Franco Colapinto expected to have until the F1 summer break to save his Alpine seat

Noble was speaking on The Race F1 Podcast about Colapinto’s time at Silverstone and explained: “I don’t believe it was his final weekend.

“We came out of the Austrian Grand Prix, with big question marks about Franco’s future.

“We’d known Flavio had approached Mercedes about potentially getting Valtteri Bottas on board.

“He had been very critical in the press release comments that weekend about the need to get both drivers into Q3.

“And Franco’s weekend up until his crash, actually, in qualifying, I mean, it had looked quite good.

“He looked to be the quicker of the two Alpine drivers. Then obviously it went wrong, a silly little mistake in qualifying when he kept his foot in, having run wide rather than kind of backing out of it.

“But Flavio wasn’t critical. He was semi-supportive on Saturday, wasn’t critical at all.

“He said that there had been a bit of progress, whether that’s related to some new sponsors who’ve come on board this weekend or not, we don’t know, but, I think it’s all looking like Franco will see out at least until the summer break, for now.

“And then we’ll see what happens after that. I think as long as he keeps showing improvement, and we’ve seen a sign of improvement this weekend in practice, then there’s every reason to keep him in the car.”

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Felipe Drugovich not in contention to join Alpine after Ted Kravitz update

There are a host of drivers who would be very keen to replace Colapinto if Alpine decide he’s run out of time to impress them.

Jack Doohan and Paul Aron are waiting in the wings, and the young Estonian earned an FP1 outing with Sauber at Silverstone last weekend.

Ted Kravitz suggested Felipe Drugovich as an option for Alpine at the end of the British Grand Prix weekend.

Drugovich has been linked with Cadillac for next season, and the Aston Martin reserve driver is still waiting to make his Formula 1 debut after three years sitting on the sidelines.

However, journalist Julianne Cerasoli has confirmed that Drugovich doesn’t appear to be an option for Alpine.

She said: “I asked Drugovich on Saturday about Alpine, and he said he has no contact with them.”

That might buy Colapinto more time, but he will know that he needs to end his pointless streak soon.

Alpine are bottom of the constructors’ championship for a reason, though, and breaking into the top-10 won’t be easy.