Top chance missed? Franco Colapinto is annoyed about his “big mistake”

– Franco Colapinto has probably never been this close to the top in his career so far: The Alpine driver fought his way from seventh on the grid to fourth position after the start of the Italian Grand Prix (race report) and even sniffed the podium at the restart when he was briefly in third place.

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However, in the first Lesmo corner, Colapinto lost control of his Alpine and spectacularly slid through the gravel trap. The Argentine was thus dropped back to 16th place. “I had a great chance and didn’t take it, so I’m really very sad about that,” he admits.

“I think it could have been a great race, and that was a big mistake,” Colapinto said after the race to ESPN Argentina, with tears in his eyes: “I missed a very important opportunity for the team and for myself, so I’m a bit sad about it. Learning from it is difficult.”

Also in talks with other media, including Motorsport-Total.com, the Alpine driver appeared disappointed – although he still managed to fight back to ninth place and thus back into the World Championship points. Teammate Pierre Gasly was only slightly better with seventh place.

Franco Colapinto “simply frustrated” after driving error

“I’m just frustrated,” the Argentine said nonetheless. “I think I did some good things. I don’t know, I just completely lost the car in turns five and six, a bit out of nowhere. That’s very frustrating.”

“I think we could have achieved some good things, P2 and P3 together, and you know, you feel so strong and suddenly fight with the top teams. That makes you very motivated very quickly, and a mistake like this throws everything away. I’m just frustrated.”

The Alpine driver still can’t really explain the driving error after the race. “I lost the car very aggressively, went very fast through the gravel trap and had a lot of damage,” he sums up. “I thought I had to give up.”

Colapinto: “We should have scored more points”

However, the team managed to minimize the impact of the damage. “And yes, we managed to score points,” Colapinto can at least do some damage control. A fight for the podium would have been difficult anyway, as teammate Gasly demonstrated.

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That hardly eased Colapinto’s frustration. “I’m just frustrated that we didn’t maximize the car and the good things we did together. And I think I have to learn from that for the future.”

“But we don’t get many such chances to fight up there and at the front, and that’s why it’s especially frustrating to have such moments,” says the current Alpine driver, who will also drive for the team in 2027. “I think we should have scored more points. So: apologies to the team.”

Alpine driver happy: “It was cool to fight with them”

That maybe something more than ninth place would have been possible is shown by the overtaking maneuver against Max Verstappen shortly after the restart. “When you’re in the car, you don’t really feel the difference whether it’s one or the other,” Colapinto downplays the situation against the four-time world champion.

“But it was cool to fight with them. That’s exactly what I meant before: We usually can’t really fight side by side with the top cars and the top teams. And that’s why it’s very painful to just miss such a chance.”

“I left four top team cars behind me at the restarts, and that’s exactly why it hurts so much to throw that away,” emphasizes the 23-year-old. “When you’re up there with them and at the same time take more risks, you don’t even realize that it’s actually not your fight.”

“You feel the podium and want to keep going and take risks, and maybe that didn’t make sense,” Colapinto says. “So again: learn from it and try to do better next time when I get such a chance again.”

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