Colapinto rues pushing limits at Imola, grid penalty adding insult to injury

Franco Colapinto says he was punished heavily for making a small mistake as he looked to push the limits during qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

In a delayed qualifying session, Colapinto was starting his final lap of Q1 when he ran wide through the Tamburello chicane and spun, hitting the barrier head-on and damaging the front of the car heavily. The Argentinian was taking part in his first race weekend since the end of 2024 after replacing Jack Doohan at Alpine, and says he was having to push because of how close it is in the midfield.

“It's just a pity,” Colapinto said. “The team has been doing a great job. The car was very competitive. We found a lot of pace from FP3 to qualifying, and just pushing to the limits and very tight margins here in Q1 and Q2. Just finding new things lap after lap.

"Unfortunately, a little mistake that was very costly. Sorry to the team. I think we have a lot of work to do overnight now, but I'm sure we are going to come back stronger tomorrow.”

Despite the incident, Colapinto says he was making steps forward the more time he had in the car, and was pleased with the progress he was making.

“I think I felt not so comfortable yesterday," he said. "Today I started to feel much more together with the car. I was already into a good point, but just unfortunate...

“The car was very quick. We had very good pace; Pierre [Gasly] is showing it. I don't know if [it was enough] for Q3, but I'm sure that [I would have got] into Q2.”

Colapinto was classified in 15th place as a result of his qualifying crash but will start from 16th after being given a one-place grid penalty. The Alpine driver went into the fast lane before a confirmed restart time was given after Yuki Tsunoda’s crash in Q1, missing a signal from his mechanic to wait in front of the garage.