Argentine driver Franco Colapinto faced a tough Saturday at the Brazilian Grand Prix of Formula 1, with a crash in the sprint race severely damaging his Alpine and leaving him in 18th place in qualifying. Despite the team's quick repairs, the car felt unstable and slow. Strong support from Argentine fans was evident in São Paulo ahead of Sunday's race.
On Saturday at the Interlagos circuit, 22-year-old Franco Colapinto of Alpine lost control of his car during the sprint race in the S de Senna section. The incident happened when he hit a wet kerb, possibly due to water on the track —according to the Argentine, from Lando Norris—, which had already affected McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg. 'They threw water on the track, I think Norris. Piastri went off, then Hülkenberg touched, and when I passed, I lost the car. I had touched it before and there was no water, it was a surprise', Colapinto explained.
The crash caused extensive damage: the team replaced the chassis, gearbox, and several power unit components of the A525. Alpine's mechanics worked intensively and rebuilt the car in just three hours, allowing Colapinto to take part in qualifying. The team even shared a video of their efforts. However, the driver felt the car 'kind of weird' and lacking performance. He recorded his best lap in 1:10.632, getting eliminated in Q1 and qualifying 18th.
His teammate Pierre Gasly, in contrast, advanced to Q3 with a time of 1:09.885 and will start ninth. 'Pierre showed that the car is very good this weekend and, because of the sprint accident, we couldn't show the real potential', Colapinto lamented. 'It was difficult. After the chassis change, the whole car, it felt kind of weird. It didn't have good performance and the whole quali was tough for me. I'm very grateful to the team, who did everything possible to get the car on track, but we were very slow and without the rhythm I needed', he added to the press.
Alpine's engineer backed the Argentine: 'It was a good attempt'. Colapinto expressed frustration at not performing in a circuit he considers 'special', like his 'home Grand Prix', but looked ahead to climbing positions in Sunday's race on November 9 at 2:00 PM Argentina time, which could be affected by rain, similar to last year. Argentine fans energized São Paulo with flags, chants, and excitement, sharing their expectations with TN for the main race.
