Sunday, November 30

“The positive thing is that there is only one race left.”

Franco Colapinto He always decides to look at the glass half full. His words in most mixed areas Formula 1 Grand Prix Who fought on board Alps What they have in common is complaining about the pace of the car and looking forward to improving in the future, especially in the 2026 season, which has already been confirmed on the grid for the French team. Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix was no exception. The driver from Pilar, who pulled out of the pits after the mechanics smashed the park barrier, arrived at A Well deserved 14th placeproject extension Where he drove his car on a very complex circuit, designated for motorcycles.

But with his usual sarcasm, Colapinto chose to highlight another point. “The only positive thing is that there is only one race left in the year. There is only a little bit left, the last effort with the team and the factory.”The Argentine confirmed in the mixed zone at the Losail Circuit. He used the same ‘tactic’ when he walked from the Alpine host to the penalty area and spoke to the Argentine media as he usually does.

“I start from the pit lane more than the track.”“, he joked with an ESPN journalist Juan Fusaroli.

Colapinto lacked rhythm, but this time the team was in sync. The thing is, he was sent to the pits with most of the other guys in the field when, on lap 7, his teammate Pierre Gasly He collided with Nico Hulkenberg, who was out of the race. The Frenchman managed to get back, but with his car badly damaged, so he finally crossed the square barrier.

Gasly, who started ninth after an impressive qualifying that placed him in Q3, was one of the two who finished behind the Argentine (there was a abandonment Lance outing, Isaac Stone, Oliver Berman And mentioned Hulkenberg). And the other was Esteban Ocon (Haas)was penalized for moving too early from the start, forcing him to pass through the pits again more than the mandatory two times. They took a turn from the three.

Colapinto had a very elegant job and was able to capitalize on it despite his bad penalties. “It was a long race, without much pace. Overall there wasn’t much despite the changes we made, I can’t find the rhythm. I think we have to understand everything a little more after the weekend and try to improve. It’s been a tough day, it’s been tough all weekend. It was difficult, Yesterday I didn’t drive well, today is generally betterbut I ski a lot on the entrance and when I try to push in the middle of the curve“, he analyzed.

“I don’t have confidence. This is a track where you need to accelerate and you can’t find anything, and I didn’t find what I wanted at the weekend so it was difficult. Now you better understand and return to Abu Dhabi. But it was a tough weekend.”

The 22-year-old Argentine confirmed that despite this “A circle without a wall allows no error.”Because “there’s that grit that doesn’t even let you get out a little bit.”

He added: “Very fast curves, very fun to drive but on the other hand, very difficult to follow and pass. With two stops, the race was very monotonous. There was no chance, very boring. I hope Abu Dhabi will be better. This track did not suit me well, and I did not feel comfortable all weekend. I hope better tracks will come.”

The key to the race in Qatar was tire management, as FIA regulations forced drivers to do so Do not exceed 25 turns In the same compound, which means at least two pit stops in 57 laps.

This entry on lap 7 to change “hard” to “medium” was a good performance for the mechanics, just like what happened on lap 32 when he repeated “medium”. In this way, he completed two stints of 25 laps and one of seven laps.

The bad news is that he was barely able to pass the rivals, except for Oliver Biermann in the pits, when the Haas driver got stuck on a jack at the back of the car. The good thing was that he withstood Ocon’s pressure during several sections of the race, even when the Frenchman eventually pitted him and had DRS at his mercy.

There is only one “citation” left for Colapinto, excited that 2026 will be much better and that Alpine will give him a car with which he can compete and strive to score points, as happened with Williams in the 2024 season.

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