Welcome to the era of Alpine Team Principal Flavio Briatore.
Although it has been rumored pretty much since it was apparent that Franco Colapinto was going to be a free agent in 2025, the sacking of Jack Doohan has come to pass.
Colapinto will step into the Alpine from Imola, but apparently not with any job security either: He only is being given a five-race deal to start. That's the same amount of races Doohan was given before he was moved back to a reserve driver.
This is the brutality that should be expected with Briatore back at the reigns of the French team. The man who was "banned from F1" for his role in rigging a crash to help Fernando Alonso win a race in 2008 has slowly crept his way back into the limelight, and now has stepped into the lead role after ex-head Oliver Oakes stepped down in a "personal decision." It seems almost too convenient.
The larger-than-life personality has been convicted of fraud, and hasn't really tried to hide his lust for power in F1 even while being banned from the sport ... although it feels like he never really left. And even to a new generation of F1 fans, Briatore has made himself look very much like a villain.
Now under a year after joining Alpine as an adviser, he leads the outfit that has struggled to show any signs of sustained success.
Colapinto might be the right decision ... but it's a brutal one
From the moment Colapinto came onto Alpine as a reserve driver, one could assume he was there because they saw him as the next driver to be part of their lineup — whether midseason or next season.
No offense to Doohan, but he did not light the world on fire in his junior career; it took him until his third full-time F2 season to finish third in the standings. He also hasn't won a single title over his time in the junior formulas, but does have a lot of seconds and thirds. He leaves F1 (for now) with no points. Did he deserve more time? Absolutely.
Colapinto, however, made quite a mark in 2024 after he took over for the struggling Logan Sargeant at Williams. He put up five points over nine races, while teammate Alex Albon had 12 over the course of a full season and Sargeant had just a single point to show for 37 race weekends.
Colapinto was in discussions to get a ride for 2025 by a few teams, but rumors have it that his propensity to damage his car in the late portions of 2024 counted him out. But the pace is certainly there.
Ultimately, it feels like Doohan needed to light the world on fire to have a chance. And as a driver who has never really carried a big stature for winning, it seems like it was just a matter of time.
What to expect from Briatore
A guy who was banned from the sport for race-fixing certainly will catch some eyes (these aren't even the only cheating allegations his team has faced). Even more so after the guy who he replaced seemed to just leave out of nowhere.
It shows the brutality that we can probably expect at Alpine: small windows to succeed, and Briatore will be outspoken the whole way. Think Dr. Helmut Marko at Red Bull but more direct.
Even to a new generation of F1 fans, Briatore announced himself right away, not even trying to hide his villainous vibe in the most recent season of "Drive to Survive." When asked if he should be allowed in F1 again, he said "I'm strong enough, I'm wealthy enough to tell everybody to stay away from me. I don't care."
He told Doohan from day one that he would control his time at Alpine "every millimeter" as a condition for getting the F1 seat that he later pulled from under him. His explanation for booting Esteban Ocon ahead of his final race with Alpine was ... not convincing. More so vindictive.
But he's also someone who was at the helm when Fernando Alonso won two titles at Renault and when Michael Schumacher won at Benneton. The track record is there — but it comes with rooting for the anti-hero.