Turbulent” Franco Colapinto received first confirmed job offer with open arms proposal .
Williams boss James Vowles backs the product of his team’s driver academy to flourish despite being pitched into a “difficult environment”
This weekend Franco Colapinto will compete in his first grand prix since Abu Dhabi last year, having taken Jack Doohan’s race seat at Alpine.
The Enstone-based organisation has acquired a reputation for operational chaos since Renault reacquired it in 2016, having gone through one total rebrand and a litany of technical directors and senior management.
Most recently, the former team principal Flavio Briatore returned as ‘executive advisor’ with Oliver Oakes joining from his own Hitech organisation to fulfil the team principal role – only to step down with immediate effect last week on the eve of Colapinto’s swap with Doohan being announced.Any connection between those two events remains the subject of speculation. Oakes’s brother was charged with “transferring criminal property” at the beginning of the month after being found by the Metropolitan Police “in possession of a large amount of cash”.
The latest turn of events has done little to diminish the impression of a team in a state of crisis. But James Vowles – whose Williams team nurtured Colapinto as part of its young driver programme and elevated him to a race seat last year before releasing him to become Alpine’s test and reserve driver – believes Colapinto can still thrive in such an environment.“
Is it in a turbulent time? Yes no doubt about it,” Vowles told select media including Motorsport.com.Getting the party started – Formula 1 hosts star-studded 75th anniversary celebration at London’s O2 Arena“Will they [Alpine] be supportive to Pierre [Gasly] and Franco? Yes I think they will as well because they’re still the elite athletes that are driving for them in order to score the most points you can.“
What normally happens, even in a turbulent time, is you still support your drivers. I actually think the learning is invaluable whether it’s in that team or elsewhere.
“It’s time on track, it’s time in a difficult environment – and if you come out of it you’ll only be stronger as a result. And Franco is strong, so I think it’s still the right place for him to be at this stage.”
