Colapinto ninth at Zandvoort, still unhappy with his Alpine: "Strange car" | OneFootball

The return of Formula 1 after the summer break featured Franco Colapinto as a protagonist at the Zandvoort circuit, where the Argentine driver managed to break into the top 10 during the second practice session, as part of the Dutch Grand Prix.

During the first free practice, the Pilar native recorded a time of 1m12s276, placing him in 18th position, far from Lando Norris, the session leader, and 0.663 seconds behind Pierre Gasly, who was tenth with the Alpine. The initial performance of the A525 left some doubts, especially due to the lack of consistency in its behavior on the track.

In the second outing, Colapinto showed clear improvement. Driving his car with used soft tires, he completed his qualifying simulation and finished a lap in 1m10s957, enough to place him ninth. A significant improvement compared to FP1, although still a second behind the best time, again set by Norris. In contrast, Gasly failed to set a fast lap and ended up 19th.

"This car is weirder…" Colapinto began in an interview with ESPN, in his direct style. He then expanded: "Suddenly I go out and have double the grip and nothing, it's a bit of not understanding why. Obviously, when I have grip, a lap comes out easier and the time is there. It was a good FP2. We have to keep working, but I think it's a good step."

The 22-year-old highlighted that slow corners are the biggest challenge on this track and explained that he will closely observe a different setup used by Gasly, with more aerodynamic load on the rear wing: "Slow corners are very difficult for us, it's where I lose the most time… maybe it's a good direction."

In his analysis of the day, the Argentine also pointed to the car's lack of predictability, something that affected them in FP1 and that they managed to improve partly with minor changes: "I wasn't happy in FP1, it was very unpredictable… change something very small and the car makes a big change," he acknowledged. Looking ahead to the weekend, Colapinto sees the variable weather as a possible advantage if the team manages to read the conditions well: "The weather being a bit crazy gives us some opportunity. Hopefully, something happens and we choose the right moment and take a bit of a gamble," he stated with anticipation.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.