Patrese: Briatore is like an old WWII bomb that can explode any minute

Speaking amid ongoing questions over Alpine’s driver line-up and leadership, Patrese warned that young prospect Franco Colapinto may be another casualty of Briatore's management style.

“Anything can happen with Briatore. From my point of view, Briatore is like a bomb that can explode at any minute — a Second World War bomb that you discover in some places around the world, which goes off. With Colapinto not performing and making mistakes, he can have a problem with Briatore, who won’t help with the driver’s morale. So, Colapinto in this moment is not safe,” Patrese said.

Braitore's stance on Colapinto is on record: "We need to wait one second to judge Franco. We did Monte Carlo, but it was very special. We made a lot of mistakes in qualifying. This is the first real race for Franco. I never say five races, three races, one race.

"We see. If Colapinto is performing, he’s driving the car. If not, we’ll see. 2025 is a year to prepare for 2026. So whatever experiment I need doing, I’m doing. We’re only looking at performance<" added the Alpine acting F1 team boss.

Reflecting on his own experience with Briatore during their time at Benetton in 1993, Patrese added: “I am not happy Briatore is back in Formula 1. I think he showed his behavior during all these years. In my case it was quite unfair because he was saying after only five or six Grand Prix that he was with Michael.

"He said that I was old, and I had to go. He had no patience because I was not performing as quickly as Michael, and he said anybody could be in my place and match Michael’s performance.

"So, underestimating Michael of course, the fact was that then the following season he had to change three drivers to replace me. JJ Lehto crashed in the first test and broke his back, then he had Jos Verstappen and wasn’t happy either.

"Then he got Johnny Herbert. So it was so easy to substitute me that he had to look for three drivers. These three drivers, the speed was not there against Michael because I knew immediately he could provide special performances," recalled Patrese, now 71.

Responding through various comments in Barcelona, Briatore outlined his vision for Alpine’s return to competitiveness — and remained unapologetic about his direct style.

“We’re back in the business with Alpine. Not easy because the team has gone through a lot of change, especially in the last four or five years. But little by little, we try to put the people together. We’re looking for next year as well with the new engine and gearbox from Mercedes.

"That is our goal. In the meantime, we need to be more competitive. We are not competitive for the moment, like I want, but it takes time. It takes a lot of time to build a winning car, a winning team. I know. I’ve done it before. I hope I’ll do it again.”

On Alpine’s 2027 target, Briatore said: “You need a dream as well. When you are in Formula 1, you’re dreaming too. You hope. And in this moment, the team is quite new. A lot of the situation in the team is not clear. We need to clear up everything.

"I believe we need all of 2025, and we need 2026 to be competitive — to at least sometimes see the podium very close. These are what we’re looking for. And why not 2027? We see what happened to Red Bull. We see what happened to everybody else. It depends as well on what kind of driver we have," added Briatore.

Following Ollie Oakes’ departure, Alpine has yet to name a new team principal. Briatore confirmed: “We’re looking. There are a lot of people who can do this kind of job. But we’re looking for somebody good, somebody who understands, somebody who wants to be part of the team. I know a few people who want to be part of this new trip with Alpine. We decide quickly.”

Asked whether Alpine has progressed as hoped during his ten months at the helm, Briatore replied: “I think so. It’s difficult when you arrive at a team like Alpine. We made some progress, but we are not there at the moment. What is more important is the result. I think we made some progress, but we don’t see it yet in the performance.”

On whether Pierre Gasly can become a world champion with Alpine, Briatore said: “I don’t know. We see McLaren two or three years ago at the bottom. Then they came back. Renault did it too. Benetton was at the back in ’91, ’92, ’93. Then in ’94, ’95, ’96, we competed. We won the championship.

"Fortunes change. If I didn’t believe in 2027, I’d rather stay on the beach drinking Coca-Cola than come here sweating in Barcelona," Briatore admitted, as Alpine language last in the 2025 F1 Constructors' Championship after 12 of 24 Rounds, only 19 points scored. All by Gasly.