F1: Franco Colapint

The Argentine advanced to Q2, surpassed his partner Pierre Gasly (he was eliminated in Q1) and was more competitive on the second day of the Hungary GP, 14th date. Will start 14 ..

Franco Colapinto arrived in Hungary in a sea of doubts. And not only because of the noise around him that he put (and puts) in check his immediate future in Formula 1. In fact, before the question of an English journalist in the previous journalist at the start of the activity of the 14th date on whether he looked in the car around the holiday break that will begin this Sunday, the Argentine replied “I don’t know.” The questions also flooded Alpine’s head, full of distrust with that A525 that, except for some sparks, could not dominate. Colapint needed a shipment that silence the external and released the internal. And he arrived in the Hungaroring classification, in which he got into Q2 and will start the race from the 14th drawer.

On Friday of Colapinto it had been very bad, lacking speed and far in the times. The team worked to find Performance and the Argentine improved in the third training by being 13th, already ahead of his partner Pierre Gasly. At the time of the classification, the Buenos Aires marked 1M15A875 in the last attempt of Q1 (it was his best record of the entire weekend) and passed through the window to Q2, in the 15th and final position granted by a ticket to the next stage. Outside Gasly stayed, who did not find rhythm throughout the weekend and lost in the entire return with the Argentine, especially in the most locked partial.

In the group of 15, Colapinto was far away. He lost the first attempt to exceed the limits of the track and took his time. In the second, he could not close a good round, not even to emphasize the time of Q1, when the logic is to improve the times as the classification is advanced. A key point was also the change of the track, because seeing began to rotate (he did notoriously in Q3) and some rain drops fell into the Q1. That generated that his unstable Alpine triggered a lack of grip that was key to not being able to improve his rhythm. The Argentine nailed the clock in 1M16S159 and was last in the Q2 and far from the rest. Finally, Kimi Antonelli was taken away from his mark for passing from the limits and advanced a place in the grid: he will leave 14th.

Colapinto, more than ever, needed to hit a leap in Hungary. The holiday break is the ideal time for teams that want to make changes, and that includes pilots. A convincing performance, within the weakness that Alpine shows, will serve the Argentine to appease the noise that is real, because even Toto Wolff confirmed that from the Estone team there were contacts for his pilot Reserva, Valtteri Bottas. Do you reach this? Unclear. It is an envy, but everything must be confirmed in the race, taking out everything your A525 allows you. Having a good pace and finishing in the best place that your car allows you will be key to having a quiet recess.