Franco Colapinto ‘happier in the car’ after first day back in F1

After months of speculation and a media day where he was perhaps the center of attention, Franco Colapinto was finally back in a Formula 1 car at historic Imola for the first two practice sessions ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Colapinto posted the 17th fastest time in FP1, and improved to P13 by the end of FP2, giving the new Alpine driver a boost of confidence heading into Saturday’s final practice session and qualifying.

“It is great to be back in a Formula One car on a race weekend again. I’m beginning to be in a happier place with the car after my first day. There’s still a lot of work to do with the setup but I’m starting to be more comfortable,” said Colapinto in the team’s post-practice report. “I have got a lot still to learn and to get used to, but I am building up to it and by the end of the day I was starting to be a bit more competitive.

Alpine’s newest driver reported that the A525 was “quite strong” over the first two sessions.

“The car is looking quite strong, especially with Pierre [Gasly] so I’m sure we are in the mix. Qualifying is going to be tricky with the traffic, we’re going to need to be on it from the start of Q1,” added Colapinto. “It’s important for us to be on top of everything so we will check all of the data from today and aim to find good answers and be stronger tomorrow. Overall, I’ve been pleased with my first day and I’m looking forward to Qualifying.”

On the other side of the garage, Pierre Gasly turned in perhaps two of the biggest surprises of the day. Gasly was up in P6 when the clock expired at the end of FP1, and improved to P3 during the second session.

“It has been a good Friday for us right since the start of the day. From the first lap I could tell the car felt good and we have answered some question marks from the last race so that is certainly positive. The car reacts how I want and I am just trying to find the limits now and refine a few things but the potential is certainly there,” began Gasly.

However, it was not a completely clean FP1 for the Alpine driver. Near the end of the first session, Gasly had an unfortunate incident when a rabbit ran onto the circuit.

“We had a little incident at the end of Free Practice 1, which was completely unavoidable,” relayed Gasly. “A hare jumped across the track before Turn 14 and unfortunately smacked my front wing. It was one of those things, nothing I could do, and we had some damage to the car as a result of the impact. The team did a great job to repair things and minimizing any disruption ahead of Free Practice 2.

Gasly believes Alpine is “in the mix” for Q3 this week.

“On track, as ever, it is very close. We just need to keep this momentum, try to find more pace, and aim to be in the mix for the top 10 in Qualifying. I am excited and ready for the rest of the weekend here in Imola,” added Gasly.

Both drivers ran a mix of the C5 medium tire, and the C6 soft tire. The C6 soft compound is making its debut this week at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The final practice session gets underway Saturday at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time/12:30 p.m. local time. Then it is straight into qualifying, which gets underway at 10:00 a.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. local time.