The departure of Franco Colapinto criticized by other drivers

Franco Colapinto has decided to leave his mark on the discipline. While he was only competing in his third Grand Prix in Formula 1 and discovering this circuit for the first time, the Argentine was once again very close to his teammate, who beat him in qualifying by just seven thousandths. Nevertheless, Colapinto was frustrated on Saturday night, feeling that he had made some mistakes in his final lap, which likely prevented him from reaching the final part of qualifying for the second consecutive time. He still hoped to score points, as Singapore is a circuit where many events can occur, especially with the safety car, which has been deployed in every race since the Singapore Grand Prix joined the calendar in 2008.

A risky but rewarding departure

This Sunday, the former member of MP Motorsport thought he had done the hardest part at the start: from his twelfth position on the grid, he came out ninth after the first turns. After the race, Colapinto stated that he had made the best possible start and that he had to dare something at the start, because it is one of the only opportunities to overtake on this circuit. “There was a nice space and I tried it, and it worked,” he said to the official F1 channel. “Here, the start is very important. Coming out of turn 3 ahead of some cars is always nice and puts you in a much better position for the rest of the race.”

However, his maneuver was criticized by many pilots, starting with his teammate Alex Albon. The Thai driver lamented the aggressiveness of his teammate on the radio. « Franco just made a kamikaze dive. But what is he doing? » A situation that forced the former Red Bull driver to take the escape route, causing him to lose many positions before eventually retiring a few laps later. His future teammate, Spaniard Carlos Sainz, also complained about the behavior of the Argentine driver, finding his maneuver too optimistic, which forced him to take precautions to avoid a possible collision.

A missed strategy at Williams.

« Today, it was a matter of limiting the damage for us, especially after a very difficult start where we had to avoid a Williams almost taking out two or three cars from the race, and we just had to avoid the damage. » Despite a very good start, Colapinto’s hopes of scoring points were dashed after the pit stop. In the fight with Ferrari, Alonso, and Pérez at the beginning of the race, the Argentine lost everything after his pit stop, carried out one lap after the other drivers, notably Alonso and Sainz, who overtook him. Ultimately eleventh and just outside the points, the frustration was palpable in the young Williams driver. « It’s a shame we didn’t finish in the top 10 after being there at the beginning of the race.

« I believe it was possible to stay in the points and keep [Checo] Pérez behind, as the track was difficult for overtaking. However, we did not defend as well as we could have, and by pitting one lap too late, we lost a position. That’s racing, we win and lose together as a team. » With three weeks off, the Argentinian driver will have the opportunity to rest but also to prepare as best as possible for the last six races of the season, which could be crucial for his future. Williams is looking to place him at Sauber next season, as the Hinwil team has not yet revealed the identity of its second driver.