Briatore: No set limit on Colapinto's number of races

Briatore signed Colapinto as a Plan B ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season, which put pressure on Jack Doohan to perform, something the Australian rookie failed to do.

As such, Doohan was shown the door after the Miami Grand Prix, with Alpine confirming Colapinto as his replacement for "the next five races".

Alpine said in the statement at the time: "As part of an ongoing assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship.

"BWT Alpine Formula One Team therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July."

In the same statement, Briatore himself said: "Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races.

"The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different, and after this time period we will assess our options," he added at the time.

But the Italian has now performed a U-turn on his and his team's earlier statements denying the five-race limit, which he has "read somewhere".

Speaking to Sky Sports Italy at Imola, Briatore said: "I have to say, I also expected more from Jack Doohan—maybe he needs a break.

"Franco will race as much as needed," he went on. "I read somewhere that he’ll have five races, but no, there’s no set limit on his races. He needs to be fast, not crash, and score points.

"I’m only asking him these three things — not 10. If he does them well, he’ll drive forever," the Alpine Executive Advisor claimed.

Briatore is currently acting as team principal after the shock resignation of Oliver Oakes and insisted on the "personal reasons" explanation as to why the Briton left his role.

He said: "His [Oakes'] resignation came after Miami due to a personal issue, and when it happened, I didn’t expect it either.

"This is a united team. There were rumors that I had argued with Oliver, but that’s not true — we have a great relationship," Briatore concluded.

Alpine has had a strong start to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, with Pierre Gasly going third fastest in the second practice session on Friday. Colapinto was 13th fastest.