Franco Colapinto: “I feel uncomfortable with the car”

The Argentine driver analyzed his classification for the United States GP, in which he placed 15th, a position from which he will start this Sunday.

Alpine worked from Friday to Saturday, but to no avail: Franco Colapinto did not feel well with his A525 on the Austin track, home of the United States GP, the 19th round of Formula 1. The good feelings he had found with his car from Hungary onwards disappeared in Texas. During the first day of activity at the Circuit of the Americas he had not been able to advance from Q1 in the sprint qualy, in the short race he did not have a good pace and in qualifying for Sunday he was 15th (he advanced to Q2 after the loss of times suffered by Alex Albon).

“We made changes during the weekend because I don’t feel good with the car and I don’t have the confidence that I had in the last races,” said the Argentine before the AM850 microphone. “We made changes yesterday after training and it didn’t work. We tried to continue in the same direction so as not to change the entire car and it was for the worse. These are things to learn as a team, because since I don’t understand the set-up and how to make the car go faster, I’m having a hard time. It’s not that I didn’t have the rhythm, I wasn’t comfortable with the car, it’s difficult for me to gain the confidence that I had achieved in the last races. For Pierre it is an easier car to drive as it is, for me it is difficult to drive,” he added.

Colapinto will start 15th, two places ahead of 2024, the year in which he finished tenth with one point. “Yes, I started 17th and added, but I had rhythm and this weekend I don’t have it. You have to work, obviously you have to be focused on improving the car and having confidence, which is what I lack the most. It is a hard car, unstable at the start. That’s why the car softened on my side and Pierre’s is more rigid. But when it softens, downforce is lost. For now what I want is not working for me on this track. In fast corners I do well, but in slow corners I lose. I feel uncomfortable in all corners. The car doesn’t give me confidence,” he concluded.