Franco Colapinto had the “most perfect weekend” of his Formula 1 career so far in Miami: Alpine reveals what might have contributed to this, among other things,
Alpine driver Franco Colapinto was one of the biggest surprises of the weekend at the Miami Grand Prix: The Argentine qualified in eighth place and moved up to seventh in Sunday’s race—aided by a retroactive penalty against Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
“I think it was my most perfect weekend since I’ve been in Formula 1,” says Colapinto. “I’m very happy with the weekend; it went really well. I think we maximized every session and scored strong points.“
”I’m very happy with the effort everyone put in—with the team’s commitment to bringing the new parts, the upgrades, the new wings, the new chassis. Everything was very helpful and helped me find my way a bit better and discover the performance I was missing.”
A new chassis as the deciding factor?
The new chassis, in particular, may have proven to be a key factor for Colapinto. “It’s no secret: usually, the first chassis you build is the heaviest,” explains Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen. “With further iterations, you then develop chassis that are lighter.”
“This is no exception. Franco has chassis number three; it’s lighter than chassis one, which he had before, because that one has to go through all the frontal impact tests and so on. That’s why we were able to give him this one, which reduced its weight a bit—that’s good, within the limit.”
“And I have to say, that’s something we’ve been good at this year,” says Nielsen. “The cars were at the weight limit or just slightly over it; we’ve been running that way all year, which is good, because not everyone can do that.” Colapinto’s new chassis had previously only been a spare and was rebuilt during the break since Japan.
Colapinto: “Got the most out of every session”
“This weekend felt very strong, very efficient at every point, and we got the most out of every session,” Colapinto praised. “So I’m very happy and very proud of the team, of myself, because I really feel like it was an excellent weekend.”
However, it remains unclear whether the chassis is the only reason why the Argentine has suddenly become so strong. “We’ve talked a lot with Franco,” Nielsen reveals. “He had some trouble keeping up with Pierre Gasly’s pace at the start.”
“I don’t know if it was simply because he needed a break, returned to Argentina, and refocused,” says the Alpine team principal, “but he’s happier with the car here than he has been so far this year, and I hope it stays that way.”
The trip to Argentina as a motivational boost?
A special stopover may also have provided additional momentum: Colapinto’s demo run in the Lotus E20 from the 2012 Formula 1 season in his hometown of Buenos Aires, which he completed in front of over half a million fans between the races in Japan and Miami.
“I told him yesterday that maybe he should go back to Argentina before every race,” says Nielsen with a smile, and Colapinto also jokes on Sky UK: “We’re definitely going to need a few more trips to Argentina soon and a few more roadshows, a little more wine and asados.”
The Alpine driver now hopes to have finally broken the spell. “Definitely, I’m sure of that. I’m sure that’s how it will be,” says Colapinto. “We’ve been trying for a long time to find this performance and understand why we’re lacking this pace. We’ll try to improve further in Canada.”