BOTTAS IN ALPINE LINK AS COLAPINTO DISAPPOINTS

Valtteri Bottas has emerged as a strong contender to take over from Franco Colapinto at the wheel of the second Alpine A525, after the Finn and his management had a couple of brief meetings with de facto Team Principal Flavio Briatore at the Red Bull Ring.

Bottas has been sitting out this season after failing to find a race seat for the current championship, working as test and reserve driver for Mercedes, as well as providing invaluable coaching for rookie Kimi Antonelli.

In advanced talks to join Cadillac from next year, the Finn has never made a secret of the fact he’ll “jump at any opportunity to return to Grand Prix racing this year,” knowing fully well that “if I’m still without a drive in Formula 1 in 2026, which is my only goal at the moment, I guess I’ll have to look at other categories to return to racing.”

Having waited too long to make a decision this time last year, only to be caught out by Carlos Sainz’s decision to join Williams, Bottas doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake and recently stated that “I want to have my future decided before the Formula 1 summer shutdown. That’s my personal deadline and that gives me just one month and a bit to get everything sorted out and signed.”

It’s widely believed that Bottas is Cadillac’s first choice for the two seats the American team has available for 2026 – some even believed the formal announcement of the deal was to be made at Silverstone.

But the chance to return to Formula 1 racing, possibly from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards, and the fact Alpine will run with Mercedes Power Units from next year makes a move to Enstone a more appealing prospect for the 10-time Grand Prix winner.

From his perspective, Briatore is clearly unhappy with Colapinto’s performances since he replaced Jack Doohan after the first six Grands Prix of the season. The Argentinian has been largely unable to match the more experienced Pierre Gasly’s pace in qualifying and the races and has also been involved in a few unnecessary incidents.

Unwilling to put Doohan back in the car, as he believes the Australian is not Formula 1 material, Briatore is also believed to be underwhelmed by Pierre Gasly’s recent performances and wants to put a known quantity next to the Frenchman to have a better benchmark.

Bottas would, of course, fit the bill perfectly, as his speed is well-known by everybody – he secured 20 pole positions with Mercedes when Lewis Hamilton was his team-mate, so he’s clearly quick.His work ethic is praised by everybody at Mercedes and Sauber, as he puts the team first and has no problems helping his team-mates in whatever they need.

More talks between Bottas and Alpine were scheduled for Silverstone, but with Briatore’s immediate future in question as a new Renault Group CEO is set to be announced on July 15, we may have to wait another couple of weeks before any conclusion is reached by the two parties.

Image: Valtteri Bottas

2025 British Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 04:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 05:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 06:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Monday, July 07:

Race: 00:00

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