Franco Colapinto hit his Alpine strong against the wall in Azerbaijan Q1
The Argentine pilot lost control of the A525 in the Cuart Curve of the street of Baku and crashed into the wall. The impact was strong and the car suffered several damages.
Franco Colapinto had straightened the course during the second day of the Azerbaijan GP, 17th date of the 2025 exercise of F1. After a very complicated Friday, in which it had remained far, the Alpine team changed the configuration of the A525 and the Argentine walked well in the third essay and the raised continued in the Q1 of the classification, in which it was in front of its partner Pierre Gasly and the chance to get into Q2 was feasible. PEro came the error in his last attempt, hard and expensive: he passed in the fourth curve and strongly hit his alpine against the wall.
The clash was violent: it entered completely and past in the seventh variant (the prior to the arrival of the castle), first hit the left rear tire and, with a punishment, then impacted with the left front. Franco got off the car without consequences, but his Alpine was very damaged.
Colapinto had raised his level in the last three dates. His first steps as head of Alpine, replacing Jack Doohan from the seventh date, were complicated. His lack of trust with the car, the weakest of the category, did not allow him to show a good level, beyond some sparkle. But from Hungary everything was on the rise, with good rhythm, with times and walking similar to those of the experienced Pierre Gasly. Good sensations continued in the Netherlands and Italy. Thus he arrived in Azerbaijan and, after hard Friday, a better Saturday arrived, when the team chose a configuration with more aerodynamic load. The 15th position of the trial was a good omen.
In the interrupted Q1 (there were two red flags), Franco had marked a record of 1M42S779 with the soft tires, 360 thousandths faster than Gasly. For the closure, Alpine sent its pilots with medium roofs, which proved to be the best in the asphalt of the Azerbaijan urban. But the error in the fourth curve came and everything ended. It was a lethal moment for Alpine, because Colapinto crashed in the same curve in which Gasly had just passed by. Almost at the same time and in the same place, the two A525 were eliminated from Q1. In fact, the Frenchman was on the escape and, behind, Franco ended against the wall. Although the French, at least, took the entire car to his box.
Colapint got off his Alpine and demonstrated all his anger with the kick that threw the protection barrier. The improvement of the three quotes prior to Baku raised its actions in the great objective called 2026. Flavio Briatore warned in Azerbaijan that the name of Gasly’s partner is a compulsa between the Argentine and Paul Aronthe pilot reserves the Team. Franco’s margin of error is Chico, this is Formula 1. Undoubtedly, the clash of Azerbaijan Saturday is not at all good, beyond that he has been risking to improve time. The blows in the Street are common (Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri in Q3 is a sample), but not all pilots are in the same situation. Colapinto will have the long -standing chance 16º (Gasly will do it 18th after Ocon’s disqualification) and try to close the weekend in the street of Baku with a good race, to leave behind the crash of the qualy and the gesture that Briatare made looking at the screen and that was broadcast on the official TV.
