Franco Colapinto credited a detailed review of Pierre Gasly’s Monza qualifying masterclass for his own breakthrough performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, where the Alpine driver reached Q3 and converted a strong Saturday into a points-scoring seventh-place finish on Sunday.
Monza Disparity Sparks Data Deep Dive
The turning point arrived at the Italian Grand Prix. Despite running closely in the opening segment — Colapinto was fourth in Q1, just 0.050 seconds behind session-topper Gasly — the gap yawned as qualifying progressed. Gasly found three tenths in Q2 and four tenths in Q3 to claim a shock pole position, leaving his rookie teammate eighth on the grid.
Reflecting on the session immediately after, Colapinto acknowledged the deficit:
“Pierre was very quick throughout qualifying. In Q1 I was very close, and I think as the sessions went on, he kept improving more than I did. I have a lot to work on on my side to understand that and learn from how much he was improving with every attempt while I was falling a little bit behind,”
Colapinto said at the time.
Determined to close the gap, the Argentine spent the intervening week poring over telemetry and video to dissect where Gasly extracted additional performance run after run.
Madrid Turnaround: ‘One of My Best Qualifying Sessions’
The preparation paid dividends at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Colapinto outqualified Gasly across every segment, advancing to Q3 despite abandoning his first Q2 run after running wide at the high-speed La Monumental corner.
Speaking to media including Motorsport.com after the race, he described the Saturday performance as a career highlight:
“[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 told media including Motorsport.com after finishing seventh on Sunday.
Race day validated the single-lap pace. Colapinto held position through the opening chaos, managed tyre degradation effectively, and crossed the line seventh to secure six valuable championship points.
“Today we stayed ahead in the race and scored a lot of points. So I’m very happy. Once again, it’s extremely positive and I’m very happy with the pace and the results.”
Lessons in Energy Management and Incremental Improvement
Asked specifically what he had absorbed from Gasly’s Monza approach, Colapinto highlighted a blend of driving technique and strategic systems management — the latter a critical skill in modern Formula 1 qualifying where energy deployment curves differ between Q1, Q2, and Q3.
“I think a bit of everything,” he said. “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.”
The rookie felt his own progression through the Madrid qualifying hour mirrored that lesson.
“I ticked everything and I’m very pleased with that. I think after Monza I learned a lot from Pierre’s qualifying and I tried to take a step here. I did it and I maximised everything again,”
he said.
“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.”
With the European summer swing underway, Alpine will hope the intra-team dynamic continues to elevate both drivers as the midfield battle intensifies.
