Any driver’s weekend will at all times be outlined by a heavy smash, and that is amplified if the motive force in query is Franco Colapinto, who made a high-profile 2025 debut with Alpine after changing Jack Doohan simply six races into the Components 1 season.
The Argentine was on his final lap on the finish of Q1 when he drove onto the grass on the exit of the second flip at Tamburello. This despatched him spinning into the gravel entice and into the boundaries.
A crash was the very last thing Colapinto wanted, following the heavy shunts he sustained through the second a part of his nine-race stint with Williams final yr in Brazil and Las Vegas. Even the appearing Alpine boss, Flavio Briatore, made this clear on Friday at Imola.
“He must be quick, not crash and rating factors,” Briatore mentioned. “I’m solely asking him to do three issues, not 10. If he does them effectively, he’ll drive without end.”
It is truthful to argue Colapinto didn’t ship on at the very least a type of requests by crashing final Saturday, however a broader view of the Argentinian driver’s weekend does present some encouraging indicators as effectively.
All eyes had been on Colapinto when he returned to the paddock on Thursday, this time as an Alpine racing driver. In the beginning of his first F1 stint with Williams, expectations had been restricted. Though his reputation shortly exploded in his residence nation, as he’s the primary Argentinian driver to race in F1 for greater than 20 years.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
This time, his loyal Argentinian followers began making noise early within the weekend and confirmed up on the racetrack on Thursday desperate to witness their driver’s return. Whereas many observers felt it was harsh for Alpine to switch Doohan after simply six races of the season, it was now on Colapinto to make the seat his and show that he might obtain what the Australian could not. So, did he?
Getting nearer to Gasly
After serving to the crew with the simulator in Enstone over latest races, and embarking on a collection of testing of earlier vehicles (TPC) occasions, Colapinto spent Friday’s apply classes attending to grips with driving the Alpine A525 for the primary time in actual life.
The Argentinian completed apply one in seventeenth place, 0.677 seconds behind his team-mate Pierre Gasly, having been unable to maximise the potential of the mushy tyre in his solely try of the session. Nonetheless, Colapinto decreased this hole to lower than half a second by the tip of the second apply session, attaining thirteenth place, whereas Gasly was a powerful third on what the Frenchman known as the crew’s finest Friday of the yr.
Having accomplished 50 laps on day one, Colapinto continued to enhance throughout Saturday’s third and last apply session forward of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, descending to 18th quickest within the charts however ending simply three locations and two tenths behind Gasly.
The hole between the 2 Alpine drivers remained constant in Q1, with Colapinto setting a lap time of 1m16.256s on his first try. This put him in rivalry for a spot in Q2, simply three tenths behind Gasly.
The crash that occurred within the last seconds of Q1 undermined the Argentinian’s weekend. In his defence nevertheless, he wasn’t the one driver to make a mistake.
Gabriel Bortoleto misplaced management of his Sauber and hit the boundaries on the finish of FP1; each Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, went off in virtually the identical place as Colapinto, with totally different penalties; and Pink Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, a driver on the point of reaching 100 grand prix begins, crashed closely in Q1.
“It was most likely the primary time that I actually reached the restrict of the automotive,” Colapinto defined as he took duty for the accident that left the entrance of his Alpine broken.
“I used to be at all times a bit beneath, and it is simple to transcend that restrict. I used to be pushing the boundaries a bit extra. The margins are very tight in qualifying these days, so I attempt to use the kerbs a bit extra.
“It appears to be like actually dangerous. But it surely’s not as dangerous because it appears to be like by way of how I’ve tailored to the automotive. I am a lot happier and extra comfy within the seat than I used to be yesterday.”
Good tyre administration gives optimism
The one-place penalty that Colapinto incurred resulting from a miscommunication with the crew concerning when to depart the storage after Tsunoda’s accident didn’t assist in Sunday’s race, nor did the couple of locations he misplaced within the opening lap.
Nevertheless, given the observe traits and his lack of expertise with the automotive, an enormous restoration was by no means a practical goal for Colapinto. Nonetheless, he nonetheless managed to showcase strong tyre administration within the first stint, when the automotive is heavier with gasoline, and that’s usually a weak point for rookies.
He was one of many final drivers to do away with the medium Pirelli tyres when he pitted on lap 22, one thing he might have capitalised on if it hadn’t been for the poorly timed VSC. Nonetheless, within the latter phases of the race, he was capable of match Gasly’s tempo and even set a sooner lap time than his team-mate, albeit with tyres half the age of the Frenchman’s.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
The tip outcome was an unspectacular sixteenth place in Imola for Colapinto, who didn’t fulfil all of Briatore’s expectations, however neither did his teammate following the error that price Gasly the chance to attain factors.
“It was truly a optimistic day after qualifying,” he mentioned. “The race was a bit towards us. I did the longest stint on the medium tyre, I used to be going for a one-stop, we modified the technique fairly a bit and I had excellent tempo in comparison with after we had been on the onerous tyres. Once we stopped to placed on the onerous tyres a few laps later, the VSC got here and killed me.
“An important factor is that we had the tempo and that in comparison with these round us, we had been very sturdy. After that, we’ve to work to continue learning and understanding the automotive just a little extra.
“I believe we’ve good knowledge to enter the following races with just a little extra studying and just a little extra comfy with the automotive.”
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Federico Faturos
Components 1
Franco Colapinto
Alpine
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