Briatore: Colapinto has become more responsible

      During the São Paulo Grand Prix weekend Alpine announced the extension of Franco Colapinto's contract for the next season. Flavio Briatore explained the decision to continue working with the Argentine driver, who regularly trails his teammate Pierre Gasly and isn't scoring points, by saying he hadn't seen any more suitable candidates.

      Flavio Briatore: "I spent a lot of time with Franco and noticed how, over the past few months, he has changed, become more mature. In his interactions with me he has become like a different person, more responsible. He understands what he is doing in the team, how to work with the engineers. He surprised me in a good way, although at first there were many in the team who doubted Franco's pace.

      We didn't have much choice to replace the driver. In fact, we only had Paul Aron. He's a great driver, but still very young, and he needs a year or two to gain experience in testing as a reserve driver.

      We didn't see anyone who could give the team more than Franco or Pierre."