Alpine is Ruining Drivers’ Careers

Franco Colapinto recently completed six Grand Prix weekends with Alpine, equalling Jack Doohan’s stint in the Enstone-based outfit. Jack was in the seat from Australia, the season opener, to Miami, the Lego Grand Prix weekend.

Then, Franco took over from Imola, and the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix, colloquially known as Hulkenpodium, marked his sixth race with the French team.

I compared their performances and found one key insight: Alpine is a trash Formula 1 team.

Both of the rookie drivers had a best result of P13. Doohan achieved it in China, and Colapinto in Monaco and Canada. Neither driver managed to finish right outside the top ten, proving that the A525 truly belongs at the back of the grid.

Furthermore, if you compare their performances against Pierre Gasly, a seasoned F1 pilot, you will discover that both Jack and Franco trail behind the Frenchman at similar levels.

You can argue that Gasly is pulling a Verstappen in the pink tractor.

However, despite building a subpar machine, the top dogs at Alpine are pressuring their drivers to fight for points and more. Consequently, it is destroying their confidence and the morale of the team while delivering zero positive outcomes.

In this article, let’s look at how the French team is ruining the careers of two promising drivers in Formula 1 due to their own arrogance and delusion.

Toxic culture of Alpine

The biggest problem in Alpine is their refusal to acknowledge the truth about their car’s performance. 

It is not breaking news that the Renault engine at the back of the A525 is a joke. On average, the RE25 produces about 20 horsepower less than Mercedes, which costs about a couple of tenths per lap.

To make matters worse, that deficit occasionally grows to 70-80 horsepower, compounding the misery of the Alpine driver.

If the driver pushes the engine too hard, it explodes. You can recall Pierre’s pain and suffering from the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he qualified P3 in that tractor. His engine blew up in the main race after Gasly pushed it too hard trying to defend his position.

It’s great news that they are switching to Mercedes power units in the future.

Despite the obvious elephant in the room, Alpine puts unnecessary pressure on its drivers. Rookies are expected to find their rhythm in the car instantly and should start fighting for points from the get-go.

Even Pierre Gasly, a race-winning driver who has been in F1 since 2017, often finds the car tricky to drive. I sometimes wonder the hacks he must be running to outdrive the A525 and get it into Q3 and finish in the points.

What’s more interesting is that this is Gasly’s third year with Alpine. He knows the team and the car well. If he is struggling to score points, doesn’t it mean that the car is horrible?

However, Flavio Briatore’s delusion is immune to logic and reasoning. He believes that rookies should be able to tame that tractor instantly to start fighting for points in the midfield.

Hence, he decided to run six-race experiments with Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto.

What rookies need from teams in F1

When noobs are given delusional objectives and unnecessary pressure, they are more likely to make mistakes. Doohan and Colapinto, who are already flustered due to the extremely demanding nature of Formula 1, now have to deal with the incompetent French.

Race after race, Flavio continues to mount the psychological pressure on the young drivers, first Jack and now Franco, to deliver the impossible. On top of that, the rookies have to deal with F1 media, which asks them about their future in Alpine every chance they get.

And this pressure gets bigger and bigger with each passing round.

As you can imagine, it is the worst possible situation for a new driver in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Rookies need stability, support, and time. They need to slowly ease their way into the world of Formula 1. The race weekends themselves are pretty hectic. For us, the viewers, it may seem all fun and games, but the teams are working hard around the clock.

From Thursday, the drivers are grilled by the media, and Alpine’s rookie faces about ten questions about their future in the sport. Then, they have to sit with their engineer, whom they haven’t formed a relationship with yet, because of Flavio’s six-race deal, to map the next three days.

From Friday’s practice to Sunday’s main race, they give all their energy to understand the car, get used to FIA’s protocols, extract the maximum out of the car, deal with the media’s stupid questions, and get humiliated by Flavio Briatore.

When so much is on the to-do list, it is critical, not favorable, absolutely critical, that the rookie gets stability, support, and time. Only then can they fully understand the car to squeeze every bit of performance out of it while cruising through triple headers.

Alpine has wasted the first half of 2025

After the six-race experiment with Doohan and Colapinto, there is a key conclusion: Alpine has wasted the first half of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The constructors’ standings clearly indicate that they aren’t fighting for anything. Their sole focus for 2025 should’ve been to help the rookie driver, whether it is the Australian or Argentinian, get acclimated with the team and Formula 1.

This would have helped them build momentum, especially with executing clean race weekends without making operational errors. Even if they didn’t score any points, they would incrementally gel well with the team, making them ready for 2026.

Similarly, the engineers and mechanics can understand the driver’s needs better. They can suggest better setup changes and tips that suit the newcomer’s driving style, because the engineers and mechanics know the car the best. They’ve built it.

However, when the driver is mostly stressed about their upcoming humiliation ritual with Flavio and their future in Formula 1, which will give anyone an existential crisis, you can imagine how difficult it can get.

What’s next: Nurture one driver

Regardless of how the last 12 races have been for the rookies in Alpine, there is no point in beating a dead horse. We can only proceed in one direction, which is forward.

From this ordeal, Alpine should swallow their pride and focus on nurturing one driver for the remaining 12 races of the 2025 season. They aren’t fighting for anything, so the pressure on the second driver is futile. 

Furthermore, if they want to get one-off crazy results like Sao Paolo 2024, where both drivers from the Enstone-based outfit stood on the podium, it is pivotal to go this way.

Because when the opportunity comes to capitalize on crazy racing conditions, you need the drivers ready. If they are in and out of the seat, uncertain about their future, they will definitely make mistakes in tricky conditions.

This will build them some much-needed momentum for 2026, a year that can change everything.

Until next time,

Tara