While in Argentina the arrival of Franco Colapinto to Alpine was celebrated, in France one of the most prestigious media in the sports world harshly questioned the team for hiring the young driver. In detail, the newspaper L’Equipe assured that the agreement is the work of a “incomprehensible question” by the managers.
The criticism of the French press on the arrival of Franco Colapinto to Alpine
Since his emergence into Italian Grand Prix, The Argentine revolutionized the highest category of motorsport. With great performances on the track, charisma in interviews and the impressive support of Argentine fans, the driver from Pilar did not remain indifferent to the fans of the sport.
However, there was one medium in particular that criticized Colapinto’s arrival at the French team: L’Equipe. The renowned sports newspaper took aim strongly against the Alpine board after they announced the hiring of the Argentine.
“This team has a strength that no other team has: that of creating, year after year, reasons to provoke new internal conflicts“, they analyzed at the beginning of the note that reported on the arrival of the Argentine.
“The lack of scruples of its managers is evident“, stated journalist Fréderic Ferret, who indirectly pointed to Flavio Briatore, Executive Councilor of the team, as responsible for the recent decisions. Then, he added: “At this level, one can speak of an unmatched talent to know – or rather not know – to manage their pilots and place them in the worst conditions”.
Although the French media at times praised the “driving skills of the Argentine“, quickly focused on the “costly accidents” he had during the final stretch of the championship. Quickly, the media focused on the sponsors that Colapinto is expected to bring to the team, something that “Interests all team managers, regardless of level“, they concluded.
The millionaire figure that Alpine paid Williams to keep Franco Colapinto
The negotiations between Alpine and Williams They dragged on for several weeks. Finally, it was the French team that won the fight to retain the Argentine’s services, despite the fact that neither team had a starting seat to offer him.
Although the details of the contract – transfer payment, duration of the contract and Colapinto’s salary – were not disclosed, it is worth noting that in Europe there is speculation that Alpine would have paid the incredible sum of US$20 milliona decision promoted by his advisor Flavio Briatore.
“Briatore’s new ‘Schumacher move’: 20 million reasons to see Colapinto on the track immediately”, headlined the Italian specialized media Formula Passion about it.
In this sense. The focus is on the risky move that Briatore made, remembering that he was the one who encouraged Schumacher and Fernando Alonso at the top of motorsports. “In the end the play came when no one expected it: drop 20 million to Williams and the signing of Colapinto“added the aforementioned media.
The man from Pilar will be behind the Australian Doohan – who has a contract for only the first 5 races of the season – and will try to earn a place by dint of performance in the simulators and waiting for the performance of his teammate. In this scenario, the Miami GPa place that would also have an avalanche of Argentine fans, could mark Colapinto’s debut at Alpine, between May 2 and 4.
Source: Ambito
