Franco Colapinto reckons that his Spanish Grand Prix weekend was his best race weekend yet in Formula 1, thanks to everything falling into place.
From a confident qualifying performance to a measured race drive and a seventh-place finish, the Argentine felt his three days in Madrid represented a significant step forward.
“It’s probably my best race weekend in terms of execution this year, I maximised everything in qualifying and did what I had to do,” said the Alpine charger.
The result was particularly encouraging given the demands of the new Madring circuit. Colapinto reached Q3 and qualified ninth, beating Pierre Gasly for only the second time this season before converting that grid position into Alpine's best-of-the-rest finish behind the leading teams.
His race was equally tidy. The 23-year-old made a sharp getaway to jump Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, then took advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s retirement before Alpine timed his pit stop under the race’s sole Virtual Safety Car.
The combination left him comfortably inside the points at the flag.
“We will all debrief as a team and continue to develop the car and maximise our performances each weekend.”
Colapinto finds another gear
The seventh-place finish also extended a useful run of form for Colapinto. He had scored points at the previous round in Italy, where he briefly ran as high as third before a small error sent him tumbling down the order.
This time, there was no such drama.
“I think the team did an amazing job and I maximised everything today and yesterday, so very proud of the result. Very excited for the future,” added Colapinto.
“It’s going well. I think we can take it forward into Baku and the rest of the year.”
That confidence is significant. Alpine had already decided to retain Colapinto after his performances convinced the team's senior management to give him another opportunity, and his latest display offered further evidence of a driver becoming increasingly comfortable with his machinery.
Asked whether something specific had clicked for him this season, Colapinto offered a refreshingly uncomplicated explanation.
“No, I’m just feeling one with the car, I think I’m learning and improving,” he said.
Learning from Gasly – and putting it into practice
There was, however, more behind his qualifying breakthrough than simply growing confidence.
Colapinto had been paying close attention to Gasly's sensational pole position at Monza the previous weekend, studying how his more experienced teammate built his performance across the different stages of qualifying.
“[Madrid] qualifying was one of the best qualifying sessions I’ve done, with very, very perfect laps and putting the car into Q3. It was always going to be tricky with the Audis and the RBs going very fast here,” Colapinto said, before explaining what he had taken from Gasly's performance.
“He is more experienced and the steps he was making in everything, both in driving and energy management, from one run to another, from Q1 to Q2 to Q3, were very clear. I learned from that.”
In Madrid, that lesson appeared to translate directly onto the stopwatch.
Colapinto produced the kind of precision the unforgiving circuit demanded, progressing through qualifying without leaving the door open for the small mistakes that can prove costly around the tight and technical venue.
“I think here I was really on it in qualifying, at a very difficult track. It’s probably the most difficult one of the year to nail a lap and also the most satisfying one when you do it. Both Q2 and Q3 were amazing laps.
“Again, I took a step there and that’s what I was looking for. So I’m happy with that.”
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