"I’m surprised Flávio himself hasn’t just jumped in": Fans react to Alpine talking to Valtteri Bottas as Franco Colapinto's potential replacement

Valterri Botas could be driving for Alpine as a potential replacement for Franco Colapinto after the Argentine's torrid run of races. With Flavio Briatore going through drivers at a rapid rate, fans started taking digs at the Italian businessman handling the French team's operations frantically.

Jack Doohan had started the year as an Alpine driver alongside Pierre Gasly. However, after just six race weekends, the Aussie was dropped in favour of the team's lead reserve driver, Colapinto, to showcase his prowess behind the wheel of an F1 car.

Though Briatore had been the front man in getting the 22-year-old a seat on the 2025 grid, Colapinto was revealed to only have five races to prove his worth to him. With this timeline getting over at the Austrian GP weekend, where the Argentine was unable to score any points for the fifth race in a row, speculations about his tenure at the team began looming in the paddock.

Many expected Doohan to get back the seat as the team had asserted that the Aussie would be their first priority to get back into the seat. But such dreams were crushed with recent reports as Valtteri Bottas joined the fray of drivers in contention for the seat.

Reflecting on the situation going over at Enstone, fans jibed at how Flavio has not considered letting him drive the Alpine A525:

"I’m surprised Flávio himself hasn’t just jumped in."

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I’m surprised Flávio himself hasn’t just jumped in

"They need to fix their car, not their drivers," one fan wrote.

"Alpine is not a serious team," another fan wrote.

Meanwhile, other fans looked at the other aspects of the potential move:

"Valterri back in a Mercedes PU. Driving for Alpine who I think will do well with the Mercedes engine. This is the best move he’s gonna get and he should take it," one netizen wrote.

"Piastri must be thankful every single day his management got him out of driving for this bunch of 🤡s," another netizen wrote.

"Damn unexpected," another netizen shared his amazement.

Bottas made his last F1 start in F1 at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

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Valtteri Bottas shares that he is nowhere near his end in F1

Valtteri Bottas at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Source: Getty

Valtteri Bottas did not have great luck in his 2024 F1 campaign. The Finn ran in points-paying positions on multiple occasions but was troubled operational issue within the team.

This led to his first point-less season in F1. Despite this, Bottas is still regarded as one of the best drivers on the F1 grid, and talking about how he does not have any performance degradation to contend with, the 35-year-old said on the Beyond the Grid podcast:

"End of last year – some Qualifying, some races – I felt like I was performing at my best ever. I haven’t felt any degradation in myself yet. That’s why I just want to keep going. We humans, we have deg, but I don’t have it yet!"

On the other hand, Valtteri Bottas also acts as a reserve driver for Mercedes and McLaren.