F1 Driver's Imola Qualifying Goes From Bad To Worse After Penalty And Crash

Newsweek

17-05-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Alpine Formula 1 driver Franco Colapinto has been hit with a grid penalty following qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which he crashed out of.
The Argentinian driver was the second to crash during qualifying after Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda also suffered a horrific crash which saw his RB21 flip in the air. Thankfully, both drivers were okay and were cleared by the medical center.
However, Colapinto has now been hit with a one-place grid penalty after some confusion with his team meant that he entered the fast lane of the pit lane before a re-start time had been confirmed after Tsunoda's crash.
Colapinto will now start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from 16th on the grid. Oscar Piastri secured pole position and will be joined on the front row by Max Verstappen.
Franco Colapinto of Argentina and Alpine F1 arrives in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on May 15, 2025 in Imola, Italy.
Franco Colapinto of Argentina and Alpine F1 arrives in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on May 15, 2025 in Imola, Italy.What did the FIA say?
The official letter from the Stewards states:
"Fact: Entering fast lane in the pit lane before a re-start time was confirmed.
"Infringement: Breach of Article 12.2.1 i) of the International Sporting Code and non-compliance with Race Director's Event Note (item 17, document 4).
"Decision: Drop of 1 grid position for the next Race in which the driver participates.
"Reason: The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 43 (Franco Colapinto), team representative and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence and determined as follows:
"The team representative stated that he gave the instruction for the car to creep out but not be fully released. The driver misunderstood the instruction and entered the fast lane before the re-start time was officially confirmed in breach of the Race Director's event notes. Once this was done, it was too late to reverse course and the team instructed the driver to proceed down the pit lane.
"The team argued that there was no sporting advantage gained in this case as there was sufficient time remaining for other teams to perform their run plans as this was the start of the session. The team representative and the driver apologised for the inadvertent breach.
"The Stewards consider that this breach was inadvertent but it did require a sporting penalty to be imposed. However as the breach was unintentional and this did not result in any sporting advantage, we decided to impose a one position grid penalty.
"A similar breach in different circumstances, could entail a more severe sporting penalty, in future."