Franco Colapinto did not pass the first cut in the Brazil sprint qualy

The Argentine was a thousandths away from being able to advance to the second segment, but he was dropped at the end. This Saturday he will start from 16th place.

The clock strikes 3:15 p.m. when Franco Colapinto quickly leaves the Alpine hospitality, crosses the paddock accompanied by a bodyguard and gets into the box. The sprint classification is coming, the short race that will be held this Saturday during the San Pablo GP, the 21st round of Formula 1. Half an hour later, Franco gets off his A525 after being eliminated in the first cut of the classification for the short competition.

The Argentine was not fast at all on Friday in São Paulo, especially compared to his teammate Pierre Gasly. In practice he had already fallen far behind in qualifying, in which everyone had to run on medium tires (this is what the sprint classification regulations state). The Argentine set his best time on his second attempt and set the clock at 1m10s441 and was very close to making the cut. In fact, he had that record 15th until Lance Stroll arrived and unseated him. Finally, he was just 60 thousandths behind Kimi Antonelli, who took the last ticket for Q2 of the sprint.

The distance with Antonelli was minimal and, perhaps, a small correction that he had to make at the entrance to Senna’s S, the first variation of Interlagos, was the reason why his first partial was not so good and, at the end of the turn, the trigger for his elimination. However, he was far from Gasly, who comfortably crossed the cut by placing eighth with 1m10s097 and 344 thousandths ahead of Franco.

The man from Buenos Aires, who started the first day of the San Pablo GP with the confirmation of his continuity as the owner of Alpine for 2026, closed it with a grimace for that 16th place he achieved in qualifying for the sprint, from where he will try to climb as much as he can. A fact by no means minor: rain is announced for Saturday. That would mix the deck up a lot.