Franco Colapinto had a somewhat complicated formal debut in the new era of Formula 1.After spinning in the private tests in Barcelona weeks ago, the Argentine got back on the A526 this Wednesday in the morning shift on day 1 of preseason in Bahrain but the Alpine presented problems that prevented its normal performance.
The 22-year-old Argentine suffered a breakdown in his car at the beginning of the action, his car stopped, forced a red flag to fly and had to be removed by the tow truck.Although he was able to return to the track later, he was unable to fully explore the car’s possibilities before giving up his place to Pierre Gasly on the afternoon of Sakhir.
The first preseason session, which will run from this Wednesday the 11th to Friday the 13th, will only feature the broadcast of the last hour of action.In that context, what happened to Colapinto took place during the first stretch of activity and was not televised, but a brief summary was now known in which the moment in which his car stopped and he had to be assisted by mechanics to remove it from the Bahrain International Circuit could be seen.
The starting rider of the Enstone-based team managed to turn just 28 laps in the first turn and was able to record his best time with 1:40.330, which ended up being the lowest of the day.His teammate Gasly replaced him in the second round and clocked 49 laps and a better time of 1:36.765.
So far, there have been no statements from the riders or team leaders to explain what happened, but it is expected that more details will be released after the session.On its social networks, Alpine only limited itself to reporting that Colapinto added 151 kilometers in the 28 laps he did.
The activity plan indicates that Gasly will have a full session at the helm of the A526 this Thursday and Franco will complete the entire day on Friday.The preseason will have a second chapter next week: from Wednesday the 18th to Friday the 20th, the eleven teams will have eight hours available to spin one of their two cars before the start of the season.These tests are expected to be televised in their entirety.
Each preseason day is divided into two shifts.The only drivers who continued in their seats today were Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Esteban Ocon (Haas).Contrapartida, Lando Norris (McLaren), Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Alex Albon (Williams), Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Sergio Checo Pérez (Cadillac) replaced their teammates in the afternoon activity.
* Pierre Gasly’s activity in Alpine
It must be taken into account that although each team follows a different work scheme and the times are not representative, the best records of the day were achieved in the second shift of the day.In the morning, MaxVerstappen clocked a lap of 1:35.433 after 62 laps, and in the afternoon he improved his statistics to clock 1:34.798 after another 74 laps.
Norris, who replaced Piastri in the afternoon, was the fastest with 1:34.669 in 58 laps and even Charles Leclerc had a better time than Max in the morning with 1:35.190 (80 laps).
They were just the first kilometers to begin recording all the systems of the cars designed under the new regulations and the times are far from allowing a real comparison.For example, pole position at the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix was achieved by Oscar Piastri with a time of 1:29.841.This Thursday, from 4 in the morning until 1:00 p.m. (Argentina time), the second day of preseason will take place on the Bahrain track.
1- Lando Norris (McLaren): 1:34.669 – 58 laps
2- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 1:34.798 – 136 laps
3- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 1:35.190 – 80 laps
4- Esteban Ocon (Haas): 1:35.578 – 115 laps
5- Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 1:35.602 – 54 laps
6- George Russell (Mercedes): 1:36.108 – 56 laps
7- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 1:36.433 – 52 laps
8- Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 1:36.765 – 49 laps
9- Nico Hülkenberg (Audi): 1:36.861 – 73 laps
10- Alex Albon (Williams): 1:37.437 – 68 laps
11- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 1:37.629 – 30 laps
12- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 1:37.945 – 75 laps
13- Carlos Sainz (Williams): 1:38.221 – 77 laps
14- Sergio Checo Pérez (Cadillac): 1:38.828 – 58 laps
15- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 1:38.871 – 49 laps
16- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): 1:39.150 – 49 laps
17- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 1:39.883 – 36 laps
18- Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 1:40.330 – 28 laps
* Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing), FernandoAlonso (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Ollie Bearman (Haas) were not active this Wednesday.
