Franco Colapinto arrives at his fifth race with Alpine, a deadline that Flavio Briatore set and then forgot.

The Austrian Grand Prix has arrived, the one that appeared on the calendar as Franco Colapinto's last when Alpine announced the Argentine as Pierre Gasly 's new teammate "for the next five races" on May 7. Imola, Monte Carlo, Spain, and Canada have already passed. However, the deadline Flavio Briatore himself set in that welcome statement will not apply when the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg concludes this weekend.

The Renault Group , which has an outgoing CEO as Luca de Meo will leave the company on July 15, was already going through turbulent times—with numerous name changes recently—and had to adopt this type of public reaction: talking about a "driver rotation" and giving the Argentine just five races was a sign of equal opportunities . However, on paper, this wasn't true, and it's likely that no such clause exists in the confidential contract between the parties.

Let's go Franco! 🇦🇷 @FranColapinto will be making the step up to race driver for the next five races. pic.twitter.com/tafrINGm4B

— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 7, 2025

“ The deadline is yours . We need to support Franco,” was the most recent statement from the Italian businessman who joined the Renault Group as an executive advisor at Alpine a year ago and, shortly after, was key to the arrival of the Buenos Aires native who had been left without a place at Williams due to the long-term contracts of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz . Just as when he announced his arrival at the French team as a reserve he spoke of a signing to integrate “a great group of young drivers to turn to and work with on the development of the team for future successes” (and it only took four months to approve his promotion to replace Jack Doohan), before Colapinto sat in the A525 for the first time Briatore was already saying that “Franco will do as many races as he needs, they say it’s 5 races, but there’s no limit.”

Speaking to the Córdoba-based newspaper La Voz two weeks ago in Montreal, he expanded his stance, pointing the finger at the Argentine press as the culprit behind the "rumor," which was actually information published by Alpine . "Franco is part of the team; I don't know what rumors you're talking about. The problem is that the press publishes a lot of garbage. It's your fault, not ours," he differentiated himself. "All this stuff comes from Argentina. You should blame yourselves. You don't have to ask me because you're the ones spreading so much crap. If you continue like this, it's not good for Franco either."

The driver, for his part, had also referred to that possible five-race gap when interviewed by Clarín in Italy, comparing his current situation to the one he had experienced at Williams a year earlier, replacing American Logan Sargeant for the final nine races. "What's different this time? It's five races and it's not over ... Well, the season isn't over, nor is it that they're going to demote me afterward, so don't worry. There are many things that we'll see and assess, I suppose. It's not just five races. We'll see how everything goes. Personally, I'm much calmer," he had anticipated.

Another clue, beyond what Briatore has already confirmed publicly, is the trip his father, Aníbal Colapinto, has planned to England, the next GP of the season . While Andrea, his mother, attended the races in Monte Carlo and Catalonia - and celebrated his 22nd birthday with the driver -, his father was going to be at the debut but couldn't travel to Italy due to a family problem and had to cancel his attendance in Canada at the last minute, so - according to what this media has been able to find out - the plan is to be at Silverstone from July 4 to 6.

The Argentine who became the first Argentinian to score points in a Formula 1 Grand Prix since Carlos Reutemann in 1982 on September 15, 2024, is very familiar with the Austrian track where he will race this weekend. The last time he was there, a year ago but in a Formula 2 car, he climbed to second place on a podium that he shared with two drivers with whom he now races in F1 : Gabriel Bortoleto (1st) and Isack Hadjar (3rd), now with Sauber and Racing Bulls. For the curious, the Sprint Race was won by another who made the leap: Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon's teammate at Haas.

Austria 2024

Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar on the F2 podium. Today, all three are racing in Formula 1. 👏🏼😊 pic.twitter.com/2Zo0xanDbR

— FC43 (@dailycolapinto) June 23, 2025

That was the last, but not the first. Colapinto first encountered Spielberg in 2021 , when he raced in the European Le Mans Series and the Formula Regional European by Alpine. In the latter category, where he finished sixth in the championship, he took pole for both weekend races and won the Sprint. In 2022, the Buenos Aires native had already made his debut in F1's support series: in Formula 3, he finished third in the Sprint and sixth in the Future his first year, and 13th and 4th, respectively, his second.

“It's a circuit I know well from having competed there in junior categories, most recently achieving a podium finish in last year's Formula 2 feature race,” he recalled in comments published by Alpine. He described the Red Bull Ring as “ a true drivers' circuit , which means you have to do everything perfectly and maintain a good, consistent pace, as the lap is so short.” “The pressure will be on to maximize everything in qualifying to give ourselves the best possible chance of scoring points in the race,” he added.

Speaking to ESPN in Montreal, the driver highlighted that the circuit's fast corners could be an advantage for a Renault engine that loses around 30 horsepower compared to its rivals . "There are some very good things about our car. I think we're very strong in the fast corners, and Austria is full of fast corners. I think it's going to be a bit of a compromise: we'll be good in some areas and not so good in others. We just need to get the most out of our package, and we'll see," predicted the driver, who is coming off his best qualifying (12th, although he started tenth) and race (13th, the same result as in Monaco) since joining Alpine.