(Motorsport-Total.com) – For Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, Friday before the Hungarian Grand Prix was anything but successful. After having to sit out the first free practice to hand over the cockpit to reserve driver Paul Aron, the 23-year-old flew off the track in the last corner in FT2 and crashed his A526 into the barrier. His session was thus already over after about half an hour.
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“That was a pretty short day,” summarized the Alpine driver. “With less downforce, the cars are more difficult to drive this year. On a track like this, where you have very little grip, it naturally feels difficult.”
Ironically, Paul Aron also struggled with the last corner in FT1. The TV direction showed the team’s reserve driver having to counter-steer several times in the long right-hand bend to avoid losing his Alpine.
“I couldn’t drive in the morning, that wasn’t exactly ideal,” commented Colapinto on the reserve driver’s deployment. Regarding his off, the Alpine driver explained after the session: “I lost the rear in the last corner and ended up in the tire barrier.”
Race Director Dave Greenwood explained: “Of course, Franco had to adjust to the available grip. He missed FT1, but that’s what happens with the [current rules].”
“Ultimately,” Greenwood said, “the track’s grip level was still building up, and it was also quite windy. Up to that point, his lap was really good and [the time] would have been competitive. Honestly, it caught him off guard.”
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Consequently, Colapinto lacks a lot of track time before qualifying. Looking at the other half of the Alpine garage, the last weekend before the summer break is unlikely to be a walk in the park for the Enstone team.
Pierre Gasly could only finish FT1 and FT2 in 14th position respectively. On Friday afternoon, he was about five tenths of a second short of the top 10, while in the morning, there was almost a full second between Gasly and Liam Lawson in 10th position.
Looking at the long-run pace, Gasly, based on FT2, is between the two Haas drivers. He is more than five tenths of a second behind competitors like Lawson.
In the Constructors’ World Championship, Alpine is in fifth position before the race in Hungary. However, the Racing Bulls, with the same number of points, are already lurking in sixth position.
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