F1: Franco Colapinto and a fantastic classification in the Canada GP

The Argentine pilot recovered from a very complicated Friday and in which he got into Q2, he beat his partner Pierre Gasly and was 12th. In the grid, two positions will advance for the sanctions suffered by Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar.

Knowledge of the car and trust, two key elements to be able to aspire to get good results in Formula 1. In that search, Franco Colapint was since he was anointed as head of Alpine in replacement of Jack Doohan from the Emilia-Romagna GP. That blow to the closure of the Icola Q1, when looking for the limit above the piano, undermined that path almost immediately. It was a stronger impact on its safety and determination than in A525. The Argentine pilot fought in Monaco and had a hard time in Spain. And Canada arrived, his fourth race with the Estone team with the need, almost obligation, to channel the course. Because F1 does not expect, it does not give long deadlines. Montreal was a hinge for Williams Expile. And the day he worked so much, finally came: he advanced comfortably to the Q2 and was 12th in the classification (Lagará tenth after the sanctions received by Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar).

And it was not easy to reach that performance. Friday’s start was very complicated, with very bad times when he simulated classification. His records were so high that, not only was it last in the second training, the problem was the gap of just over seven tenths with the penultimate. A world. The career rhythm was good, with records very similar to those of Pierre Gasly, his partner, but at an unusual distance every time he was looking for a fast return.

Colapint had not lost the speed. Beyond how cautious he saw him in his turns, especially in the second curve (in which he made two trumpers) and in the link of the 13 and 14 that he has the dreaded wall of the champions waiting for the slightest slip. But his A525 was indócile. “We are going to work tonight to find the reason for that difference between Long Run and the times on a return,” said Buenos Aires when closing the first work day.

Already on Saturday, in the third training, the signals of a noticeable improvement in that damn rhythm on a return began to arrive. Beyond traffic and some lost chance, Colapinto ended 17th to only 376 thousandths of Gasly, a light much smaller than that 1S024 on Friday. And the classification came.

Ladies, gentlemen, the general public, in the classification of Canada returned the old collapint. It was, without any doubt, the best moment of the Argentine since his arrival at the Alpine armchair. It was the Franco of those first four races of Williams, the one that led to Estone’s team to mobilize for hiring. For the first time he managed to defeat Gasly, and did it clearly. It is true that at the time the Frenchman was traveling to achieve his best return of Qualy in the Q1, the red flag came due to the unusual breakage of Alex Albon’s Williams (the engine covers was disarmed in the middle of straight). Colapint closed tenth the Q1, with a time of 1M12S234, against 1M12S667 of Gasly, who was last in the session.

The Argentine began the classification with middle tires and closed the Q1 with the soft ones. In each departure he improves his times. Already in Q2, it was the other way around, it began with the softest compound and ended with the media. Finally he signed a great 1m12S142 (his best time in the weekend) and was 12th. In Q2 he lost time in the last curve in his two attempts. Perhaps that is why Franco’s radio communication at the close of his task in which he apologized to the team.

The hard premiere of Emilia-Romagna passed, the Mónaco Domino Paseo (how he defined it) and a weekend for oblivion in Spain. He also labeled a worrying Canadian start, until finally the performance he expected and sought came. It was 12th in the classification, but it will leave tenth for the sanction of ten places in the grid that Yuki tsunoda received for not respecting the red flag in the training and three positions that fell on Hadjar for having covered the return of Carlos Sainz in Q1. “There were three difficult races,” collapint confessed before starting the activity in Montreal. “Adding points would be great. I think, if we can get a little more about the performance of the car, I’m sure he has, I would be very happy, so I think we first have to start by getting to where we need,” added that day. It seemed like a chimera to think about writing down units. After its Saturday, it can be a reality.