Briatore names only Verstappen as driver who could help Alpine: "Maybe Max gives you two or three tenths"

Speaking during the team principals' press conference at the Monaco Grand Prix, the Alpine executive adviser delivered a blunt assessment of where the Enstone-based team stands in Formula 1's competitive order.

According to Briatore, Alpine's deficit to the front of the field is simply too large for any driver to overcome.

"The driver is less important than the package. Sure, the driver makes a difference if you have one guy like maybe Max, he would give you two or three tenths. But if you are seven, eight tenths behind, you don't have any driver who makes this difference."

The comments underline Briatore's belief that Alpine's performance problems are rooted in the car rather than the cockpit. While Verstappen's ability is acknowledged as exceptional, Briatore made it clear that no available driver could compensate for a package that remains significantly off the pace.

Briatore's frustration is directed squarely at the competitive gap to the teams sharing Mercedes' power unit. The fact that McLaren and Mercedes are running the same Mercedes engine and producing dramatically better lap times is not lost on him, and he said so without softening the assessment.

The gap to McLaren and Mercedes, while sharing an engine specification, is a direct indictment of Alpine's chassis and overall engineering package. Briatore acknowledged progress but refused to dress it up as sufficient. The underlying message is that the rate of improvement is not fast enough.

On the driver front, Briatore confirmed that Pierre Gasly remains under contract and that the team is assessing the situation around Franco Colapinto. He was careful not to overstate the importance of either decision relative to the car development programme.

The message is consistent with his broader argument: until Alpine closes the gap to the leaders through car development, driver selection is a secondary conversation. The financial logic reinforces it. "If you need to put the financial effort, you need to make sure you have the possibility to win." Spending heavily on a marquee driver in a car that cannot fight for podiums is not a trade Briatore is willing to make.

Briatore also pointed to operational improvements, including pitstop performance, as part of Alpine's wider development programme.

Rather than focusing on the driver market, the veteran Italian believes Alpine's priorities are clear: improve the car, sharpen operational execution and only then turn attention to the finer margins a driver can provide.

His comments in Monaco offered one of the clearest indications yet of Alpine's current mindset. The team recognises it remains significantly behind the frontrunners, and until that gap is closed, Briatore sees little value in treating driver changes as the solution.

For now, Alpine's future depends far more on engineering progress than on who occupies the cockpit.