Franco Colapinto spoke about his relationship with Flavio Briatore: "He was very tough on me, but I needed him to be"

Franco Colapinto is going through the best moment since his arrival at Alpine and, ahead of the Austria Grand Prix, he took the opportunity to highlight one of the figures he considers key in his evolution within Formula 1: Flavio Briatore. Just a day after the Italian publicly praised the Argentine again and left the door open for a possible continuation beyond 2026, the driver responded with a strong acknowledgment towards the one who believed in him from his first steps in the French team.

Recently, the executive advisor of the team had stated on the podcast Beyond The Grid that the Argentine has not yet shown all his potential and that he would like to continue counting on him in the future if he maintains his progression. Far from settling for just those words of support, the native of Pilar explained what the relationship they built within the team is really like.

"I heard a bit of what he said. They were very good comments and it was a very fun interview", Colapinto pointed out from Spielberg. However, he quickly focused on the working method of the Italian leader, characterized by a strong demand and a constant search for improvement: "Flavio supports me a lot and has been very tough on me at times, but I needed him to be tough. It also depends on me how I take those moments and, fortunately, I took them very well, improved, and learned from them. They were very helpful".

"We all know that Flavio has been in this sport for many years and has had so much success that, when you take advantage of all his experience and comments to improve, understand where you need to focus, and be mentally stronger, it ends up being very useful. Over time, it becomes a strength", he added.

The relationship between the two had complex moments, especially during last season. Colapinto arrived at Alpine in a difficult context, with a non-competitive car and a team that had decided to prioritize the development of its project for the new technical regulations over immediate results.

In that scenario, the Buenos Aires native had to quickly adapt to a structure completely different from what he knew and deal with the pressure inherent in the top category. As the months went by, that experience ended up strengthening him, and today he appears much more consolidated and increasingly closer to Pierre Gasly's performance.

"Since I arrived at the team, everything has been very different from what I was used to. But it helped me a lot to learn and improve in the most difficult moments. Those complicated situations made me much stronger, and the way he managed them with me even more so", the Argentine highlighted regarding his recent evolution.

Moreover, he emphasized that the Italian's influence is not limited to the drivers but extends to the entire Alpine structure: "Right now, he is helping me a lot and has placed a lot of trust in me this season. He pushes us in the right direction. Not just with me, but also with the engineers and the whole team".

Finally, as he explained, Briatore never settles for the results obtained and always seeks a new step forward. "We can finish sixth, and he is already at the factory being the only one who is not satisfied. He always wants more. That is the way to go from being the last team, like last year, to fighting in the midfield and, someday, competing for victories. I believe that is the only way he knows how to do it, so I fully trust him", he concluded.