(Motorsport-Total.com) – Franco Colapinto and his main sponsor Mercado Libre sharply criticized the decisions of the FIA race stewards at the Dutch Grand Prix. The Alpine driver received two penalties in Zandvoort and thus lost his chances of scoring World Championship points. Esteban Ocon also expressed incomprehension about a decision by the race management.
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Colapinto was already in a promising position in the first lap of the race. The Argentine had overtaken several competitors when just a few meters ahead of him the serious accident of Max Verstappen occurred. Shortly afterwards, yellow flags were waved.
While Colapinto was just about to overtake Yuki Tsunoda, he said he only noticed the yellow flag very late. According to his assessment, braking in the middle of the wet and banked straight would have posed a greater danger. Nevertheless, the race stewards imposed a drive-through penalty on the Alpine driver.
Later in the race, Colapinto received another ten-second penalty for a second violation during a yellow flag phase. In addition, he was handed three penalty points. This means the Argentine now has a total of four penalty points on his racing license.
“The drive-through penalty affected our entire race”
“The drive-through penalty affected our entire race. I had a very good start and was in the points. It was just difficult,” Colapinto explained after the race.
The Argentine described the difficult conditions during the first lap and pointed to the wet track as well as the numerous dangers around Verstappen’s accident.
“It was difficult to judge under these conditions. In the first lap, you fight, attempt an overtake, everything is wet and slippery, and on the banked track, car parts are flying around.” Colapinto also emphasized that he only saw the yellow flag very late, when he was already completing his overtaking maneuver.
Colapinto calls for more flexibility in the rules
“It was clearly more dangerous to brake hard and then accelerate again in the middle of the straight on the banked and wet track while everyone was sliding,” said the 23-year-old.
According to Colapinto, the rules should be applied more flexibly in such situations. “I think the rules are written, but they should be much more flexible. There should also be criteria to judge what is safer and what is less safe.”
The Alpine driver refers to the special situation during the first lap. “If someone drives 30 km/h slower in the same section of the track, you overtake him and then a yellow flag comes, you can’t do much. It’s very difficult to react to that.”
“They were extremely harsh”
Even when later asked if the race stewards should have taken the circumstances more into account, Colapinto stuck to his criticism: “I think they were extremely harsh in this case. It’s their job, but it’s also their job to be a little flexible and understand the situation.”
Above all, the Alpine driver considers the drive-through penalty disproportionate. “For me and Lindblad, it was too harsh in my opinion, especially the drive-through penalty. It destroys your race. It feels like too much, but it is what it is.”
Lindblad also criticizes the penalty
Colapinto was not the only driver to criticize the decision. Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad also received a drive-through penalty for a similar incident and also considers the sanction too harsh.
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“I think we can all agree that it’s pretty extreme,” Lindblad said after the race. According to the young driver, he and his team could have fought for eighth place without the penalty.
Lindblad is particularly surprised at how the race stewards assessed the specific incident. “When I look at my onboard, I wonder what was actually so wrong. I felt like they wanted to set a precedent today rather than weigh the specific violation and the appropriate penalty,” he explained.
Colapinto sponsor attacks the FIA
The criticism was not limited to the drivers. Sean Summers, Chief Marketing Officer of Mercado Libre and thus a senior representative of Colapinto’s most important sponsor in Formula 1, also spoke out clearly about the decisions of the race stewards.
Summers tagged the official FIA account on X and wrote: “The race stewards are destroying the integrity of Formula 1. This season they prove that they are terrible and influence race results. Incompetence? Dishonesty? Both? Something is seriously wrong in the culture of this organization.” This unusually sharp wording also causes criticism of the race stewards’ decisions on the sponsor side.
Mercado Libre has supported Colapinto since 2024
Mercado Libre has supported Colapinto’s Formula 1 career since his Williams debut at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix. The Argentine company remained by the driver’s side even after his move to Alpine and is one of his most important sponsors.
After the two penalties, Colapinto finally had to settle for 14th place in Zandvoort. In addition to his drive-through penalty, he later received another ten-second time penalty for a second violation under yellow flags. Furthermore, three more penalty points were added to his account, bringing his total to four penalty points on his racing license.
Ocon also criticizes the decision
Meanwhile, another decision by the race management in Zandvoort caused incomprehension. Esteban Ocon criticized the regulation at the restart after the red flag. The Haas driver had overtaken Alex Albon in the first lap when the track was still green at his position.
“What was really unfortunate is that you have to take all these risks. You are practically playing with whether you get a penalty or not,” Ocon explained. In his case, it was particularly close because he overtook Albon under green flags. After the race was stopped, the order for the restart was determined based on an earlier timing loop, which put Albon back ahead of Ocon.
“I should have started ahead of Alex because that changed my race,” Ocon said. The Frenchman especially criticized that, in his opinion, Formula 1 has much more precise means to record positions and therefore critically noted: “We are not supposed to believe that there are no timing loops every 20 meters in Formula 1. That is really a very old-fashioned rule.”
Ocon retires with technical defect
However, Ocon could not finish the Grand Prix in Zandvoort anyway. After a few laps, a problem with the power unit caused the rear wheels to lock, he lost power, and had to stop his Haas. It was the Haas driver’s first technical retirement of the season.
The decisions of the race stewards in Zandvoort are likely to continue to spark discussions at both Alpine and Haas after the turbulent race.
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