Franco Colapinto repeats the history of China in Japan, and the result?
The Argentine driver will race for the first time in Suzuka, as had happened in Shanghai in the previous Formula 1 event, where he achieved his first point with Alpine. The Japanese GP will mark a long break without races until May.
Franco Colapinto’s excursion through Asia gave him, so far, his first point with Alpine and a visit to two unknown tracks: Shanghai and Suzuka. In China, the undertaking was even more complex because it was the first event of the season with a sprint race and that left him facing the prospect of a single free practice before starting to look for real times to place himself in the short race on Saturday. In Japan, however, it will be a regular event, with three rehearsals, the first starting this Thursday night in South America.
In China, Colapinto had a weekend from low to high and ended with a great performance on Sunday, in the main race, in which he was tenth. His race was complicated by an inopportune safety car that complicated his strategy, a perhaps late stop by Alpine with the Argentine and Esteban Ocon’s touch that damaged the A526 and caused him to spin. In any case, that safety car allowed him to be second during a stretch of the competition, his highest partial position achieved in F1.
Colapinto was one of the six drivers summoned to a press conference in Suzuka. He was part of the first group, along with Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll. Immediately, the Argentine pilot analyzed the Chinese competition more coldly. As soon as the checkered flag came down, the Alpine driver was a bit confused because he understood that he could have added more, but as time went by he brought out the most important thing about his time in the Asian giant, especially that after 28 races (since San Pablo 2024) the two Alpines managed to finish in the points zone with Pierre Gasly’s fifth place.
“I was looking for those points for a long time and it was really positive for me and the team to get a double points finish again after so long. So it’s good. Of course we were looking for more and at the beginning of the race it looked very possible. We were fifth and sixth and it seemed like we could score more points. But the safety car hurt our race a little bit, mine and Pierre’s too. Mine because the strategy was much worse, but it was still positive to see the performance, to see that we could fight forward and that we could be among the big teams. So I think overall it was a positive weekend. Coming from Melbourne, it was a big step forward and that, of course, was very positive and motivated many people in the factory,” Colapinto analyzed.
Japan is a different challenge and a very different track than Shanghai. It comes from a route with many low speed areas to Suzuka, a medium-high speed circuit that has very high speed sectors, such as the area of the esses that begin after the main straight, the famous 130R curve and Cuchara. Alpine suffered with a front wing that did not respond well aerodynamically in the fast sections of Melbourne, the first event, and they hoped to take a new one to Japan to be able to cope well with those fast sections. “It’s another new weekend, a new circuit, very different in terms of energy, in the type of corners, very long, very high speed. So it’s going to be really different. I think we still need to understand our biggest weaknesses and in which areas we have to work more.. China was a very different circuit to this one, so we will have to see. But overall, it’s new for everyone. Nobody really knows where everyone is going to be and we have to wait until tomorrow,” said Franco. Of course, with the new regulations, each track that F1 visits is a new challenge for everyone.
After the Japanese GP, F1 will enter a racing target in April, following the cancellations of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a result of the war in the Middle East. Thus, the World Cup will only return to the semi-permanent Miami… Yes, another unknown place for Colapinto.
