– It just burst out of Franco Colapinto after the Formula 1 race in Monza last weekend. The Argentine could not hide his tears during the interviews following the race – he was so disappointed about his mistake at the second start, which cost him many positions.
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“It just came deeply from inside me,” he says a few days later about his emotional outburst. “You know how I am. I am that kind of person and I don’t hide anything.”
Colapinto is talking about a difficult moment. “I was frustrated throughout the whole race because I felt that this was a unique chance – an opportunity you might only get once in all the races you compete in.”
Alpine surprised everyone in Monza qualifying by taking pole position with Pierre Gasly. In the starting phase, his teammate Colapinto also fought his way forward and was in fourth place after Charles Leclerc’s crash, which led to a red flag.
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At the second start, the Argentine also overtook Max Verstappen and was in third place before the four-time world champion was able to counter in the second chicane. A few meters later, however, Colapinto’s race was affected by a mistake when he ran off into the gravel trap at the first Lesmo curve and fell back to 16th position.
“I had never been in the top 3 before and fought like that in a race, so a mistake like that obviously hurts a lot,” he laments. Although he still finished ninth in the end, which according to him was a position that would have been realistic even without the mistake, the incident still hurts him deeply.
“It was more about the feeling of being able to fight against these cars, against which you almost never get a chance to duel,” he explains. “You feel strong, racing against Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari, and then you suddenly throw it away so quickly. That’s disappointing and makes you angry. But I’m sure more opportunities will come.”
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