Alpine Formula 1 driver, Franco Colapinto, highlights the importance of following team instructions, no matter the circumstances, after breaking team orders at the United States Grand Prix. Despite pitting earlier than almost every other driver in Austin on lap 13, Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto pressured Colapinto in the final 10 laps as the Brazilian driver aimed for a higher finish. However, Colapinto found himself stuck behind his teammate, Pierre Gasly, who was chasing him down at a rate of 0.7 seconds per lap, when Alpine instructed him to hold his position on lap 54. The Argentine driver responded, “Wait, what? Hold position? But he’s slow!” Colapinto overtook Gasly despite the team order and finished in 17th place ahead of Bortoleto, with the French driver coming in last.
Alpine appeared to reprimand their driver for his on-track behavior. “The team situation on Sunday has been discussed internally, and it is clear that team instructions must always be followed, no matter what,” Colapinto stated, as quoted from a preview of the Mexico City Grand Prix by Alpine. “We are all together, and we are all working towards the same goal of getting better in every session and every race weekend.” This sentiment sharply contrasts with the rookie’s post-race comments at the Circuit of the Americas.
“I only had slightly more speed than Pierre on the last lap and Bortoleto was very close behind, attacking very hard, and he was much faster than us,” Colapinto continued. “I couldn’t do much with how slow Pierre was, so I thought the best for this situation was to place me in front and try not to have both cars behind. They allowed us to race on another track. I think, in this situation I faced – being attacked very hard by Bortoleto – perhaps it was best to put me in front, if not, we would be overtaken by both. We just need to analyze all the data and analyze every moment of the race.”
When asked if he was surprised to receive a team order for 17th place, Colapinto diplomatically replied, “I don’t know – I think the team, we try hard to be strong for next year, and we just analyze every situation and try to get better. Moments like these are very important in a weekend, and even if it’s not for scoring points, we try to do our best at all times.”
Despite the drama, Alpine’s toughest times in its history continue as the team has finished the last four grand prix with both cars outside the top 15. “A challenging weekend in Austin where I struggled a lot with the car,” Colapinto said in a recent press release. “Only had one practice session, tough conditions, and couldn’t find the right balance, all made it a tough weekend for me. We need to understand more closely why we are struggling so much with the car and work to improve it in the future, even though we know we will face a tough end to this year with the package we have.” Additional report by Ronald Vording.
