Red flag! Here’s what Franco Colapinto (Alpine) has to say about his crash

He had to sit out the first free practice session in Budapest, and crashed during the second. Friday’s proceedings in Hungary did not go at all as hoped for Alpine driver Franco Colapinto. In the second free practice session, the Argentine spun off the track after half an hour, crashing backwards into the barriers. Alpine adviser and team principal Flavio Briatore looked anything but impressed with his protégé’s performance in the garage.

A short day’s work for Colapinto

Colapinto was taken away by the medical car for the short distance from the final corner to the garage. It was purely a precautionary measure. Just a few minutes after the final session, Colapinto was already able to offer a weary smile. He summed it up: “That was a rather short day.” He was on the track for just over half an hour – instead of two hours like most of his colleagues.

Lost the rear, spun

Colapinto: “I think the cars are getting trickier and trickier to drive this year with the low downforce. On a track like this one with so little grip, it’s difficult. I lost the rear end in the last corner, then hit the kerb with the rear of the car. Not a good day. Not a good start. I’ve also lost the morning.” That’s because young driver Paul Aron had taken over his car for a rookie session.

Colapinto: “I’ve missed out on quite a bit of track time. I’m now going to focus on the lessons we can learn from this and on what we can improve for tomorrow. Of course, we don’t have that much data, but I think we can still work with it and get the car into a better performance window tomorrow.”

Franco Colapinto’s crash wasn’t the first incident of the day. There had already been a red flag during the first free practice session on Friday afternoon. Lance Stroll had come to a halt in FP1 after spinning. The crash was apparently caused by a broken suspension component, and Stroll had to sit out FP2. Both practice sessions on Friday were consequently interrupted for a few minutes each, roughly halfway through. Ferrari led the way in both sessions.

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