Franco Colapinto became emotional after the Formula 1 race at Monza: he was disappointed in himself following his mistake during the race
Franco Colapinto broke down after last weekend’s Formula 1 race at Monza. The Argentine couldn’t hide his tears during the post-race interviews – he was so disappointed by his mistake at the second start, which had cost him many places.
“It just came from deep within me,” he said a few days later about his emotional outburst. “You know what I’m like. That’s the sort of person I am, and I don’t hide anything.”
Colapinto describes it as a difficult moment. “I was frustrated throughout the whole race because I felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance – an opportunity you might only get once in all the races you compete in.”
Alpine had surprised everyone in qualifying at Monza, securing pole position with Pierre Gasly. In the early stages of the race, his team-mate Colapinto had also fought his way up the field and was in fourth place following Charles Leclerc’s crash, which had led to a red flag.
At the second start, the Argentine also overtook Max Verstappen and was in third place before the four-time world champion was able to fight back at the second chicane. A few metres later, however, Colapinto’s race was marred by a mistake when he skidded into the gravel trap at the first Lesmo corner and dropped back to 16th place.
“I’d never been in the top three before and was fighting so hard in the race, so a mistake like that obviously hurts a lot,” he lamented. Although he eventually finished ninth – a position he believes would have been realistic even without the mistake – the incident still hurt him deeply.
“It was more about the feeling of being able to battle against these cars, against whom you almost never get a chance to duel,” he explains. “You feel strong, you’re racing against Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, and then suddenly you throw it all away so quickly. That’s disappointing and it makes you angry. But I’m sure there’ll be more opportunities to come.”
