Alpine team leader Flavio Briatore has contradicted his own squad’s announcement that Franco Colapinto had been promoted to a race seat for the next five Formula 1 rounds from this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Franco Colapinto says replacing another Formula 1 driver during the season are “never nice circumstances” and he doesn’t believe his five-race deal with Alpine is long enough. After Australian rookie Jack Doohan was dropped amid wider upheaval at Alpine,

Alpine announced Colapinto would race in the next five F1 races, but Briatore has just denied it