Franco Colapinto: talk, slap on the wrist and Mexico

After his disobedience of the United States, the Argentine pilot had a talk inside Alpine and they clarified his goals. This Friday the action begins at Hermanos Rodríguez.

Disobedience and Formula 1 do not go together well. In Argentina, an emblematic example was marked: Carlos Reutemann with Williams in the 1981 season.. That rebellion by Lole in the Brazilian GP against the order to let Alan Jones win would end up costing him dearly at the end of the year. The applause from the stands does not make an impact in the team offices. That’s how it works. There are few cases of insubordinate people who did not end up locked up between four walls listening to a long tirade. The last example was Max Vertsappen at the 2022 San Pablo GP, when they asked him to let Checo Pérez pass and the champion stood up: “I already told you the last time, don’t ask me again. Is it clear? I gave my reasons and I stand by them,” Max responded on the radio that time. But it is Verstappen, the mega star of the World Cup and the king of Red Bull. Franco Colapinto did not pay attention to a direct order in the United States GP and, beyond the reasons given by the Argentine, he experienced his slap on the wrist.

It’s true, the A525 number 43 arrived with much better pace at the end of the Austin competition. In a handful of laps he discounted the entire difference between Pierre Gasly, his teammate, and the clear indication came: maintain positions. Colapinto decided to overcome it anyway. “Pierre had older tires, he was 1s5 slower and it was the best for that moment because Bortoleto was faster. He was 17th and 18th, there is no point in fighting for these things,” said Colapinto after the competition.

But for the F1 teams there is no explanation or position that is valid. An order is an order. Steve Nielsen, the director of Alpine, marked the field after the American GP: “Any instructions from the pit wall are final and today we are disappointed that this did not happen.”

After the mess in Texas, F1 landed in Mexico, where the 20th round of the season will be held this weekend. Before arriving in Aztec lands, Colapinto must have listened to the Alpine priests. “The team’s situation on Sunday has been discussed internally and it is evident that the instructions must always be followed, no matter what happens. We are all together and working with the same objective: to continue improving in each session and each race weekend,” said the Argentine in statements published by Alpine.

Colapinto is awaiting the announcement from the Enstone team about the second driver for 2026. As AM850.com published in the run-up to the United States GP, the statement will come out in November (possibly in Brazil) and everything points to the Argentine’s continuity. There will be no announcement in Mexico, despite the rumor that emerged from Argentina.