Franco Colapinto took advantage of the water in Las Vegas to get into Q2
The Argentine was able to dominate the wet track in the urban area of Nevada, where the 22nd round of F1 takes place, to overcome the first qualifying segment. In the second, he played a trick on him and started 15th.
One of lime and another of sand was Franco Colapinto’s classification in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the 22nd round of the 76th F1 season. The rain gave the Argentine a hand. It usually happens: the wet track mixes the deck and the marked differences between the cars are a little overshadowed and it is about being able to take advantage of the moments on the track and avoid mistakes. The Alpine number 43 had not worked well on the dry track on the first day of activity and the rain was a balm that helped Franco get into Q2 for the sixth time in 2025.
A while before the start of qualifying, the drizzle gave way to heavy rain and the track became waterlogged. When Q1 began, most of the teams (except Aston Martin) went for intermediate tires. But the track was for those in extreme rain worn by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. “I don’t have grip, no grip at all,” Colapinto said on the radio. He immediately went to the pits and returned with the tires with a well-marked pattern.. From that moment on, it was all about staying on track and taking advantage of every opportunity that might arise.
Colapinto improved his time with each lapalways behind his teammate Pierre Gasly, who was clearly faster than the Buenos Aires native in all the track conditions that existed during the weekend. After a string of races in which the Argentine had equaled and even surpassed the Frenchman, from Mexico onwards Pierre once again made a difference.
With the rain as an ally, Colapinto closed a great final lap of Q1 to get 11th and comfortably move on to the next qualifying segment in Las Vegas. Out there were bright names like Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli and even his teammate Alex Albon, who ended up hitting the wall.
ANDThe outlook did not change in Q2: it was about staying on the track, turning and improving with each turn. In the last attempt launched, Colapinto was dropping his time by almost a second and the chance of Q3 could be possible. It was very tight, but doable. But the wet track that had allowed him to improve the performance of his Alpine and get into the fight, worked against him: he stepped on the curb in the penultimate cornerhis A525 turned all on its side and he lost the chance. The clock gave him one more alternative, but the batteries in the electric motor of his power unit were dead. To make matters worse, he continued on at turn 14 and went straight to the pits. Thus, everything was over.
Colapinto clocked 1m53s683 in Q2 to place 15th, a position from which the Nevada competition will start. Gasly set the clock at 1m51.760 on the closing lap and advanced to Q3 (he finally placed tenth). The Argentine took advantage of the rain to get into Q2, a scenario that seemed impossible after the first day. For the competition, dry, cold floors with little grip are expected. Probably in Alpine they expect a little more rain, because there the weakness of the A525 was less noticeable.
