Franco Colapinto has been sent to the pit lane for the start of the British Grand Prix after Alpine opted to make sweeping changes to his A525 machine under Parc Ferme conditions. The Argentine starlet was under intense scrutiny heading into the weekend with his Alpine future on the line, but Colapinto couldn’t rise to the occasion.
The 22-year-old suffered a spin at the Club corner during the first part of qualifying, sending him spinning into the gravel. Colapinto’s Alpine made light contact with the wall, and while he was initially able to roll his car out of the gravel and start the long road back to the pit lane, he was quickly informed by his engineers that his afternoon was over. This set him up for a P20 starting grid slot on Sunday.
With nothing to lose, Alpine opted to bolt some new components onto Colapinto’s car for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Pilar-born racer will have a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store, control electronics and exhaust system for the battle at Silverstone.
This means that Colapinto’s race will start from the pit lane. Looking back at his qualifying experience, the Argentine said: “Overall, it was a frustrating way to end our day, and it was a pity that we could not make it back to the garage to complete a final run in Q1.
“The conditions were tricky, as they have been all weekend, and I was pushing and lost the car on the exit kerb of the last corner. I was pushing hard trying to find the gaps we are missing, and I unfortunately lost the rear of the car.
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“There was some contact with the tyre barrier, and I thought it was okay, as we managed to rejoin the track. However, there were some vibrations and we decided to pull over and stop on track. Sorry to the team, and we will keep working and try our best in the race tomorrow.
“Looking at the forecast and the possibility of rain for the Grand Prix, we will try to maximise any opportunities that come our way and make up some positions. Also, well done to the team and Pierre for the turnaround they had given the difficulties we have faced across the weekend.”
Pierre Gasly did rescue some pride for the Constructors’ Championship’s lowest-ranked team, but with Colapinto’s future now managed on a race-by-race basis and reports of talks with Valtteri Bottas lurking in the background, the 22-year-old will be feeling the heat when he lines up at the end of the pit lane for the green flag.