Alpine in the top ten
The Chinese Grand Prix ended with a decidedly positive result for Alpine, which can rejoice in the return to the points zone for its two drivers in a single race: in addition to Pierre Gasly’s 6th place, who brings home another top-10 finish after the one obtained in the first round of the world championship in Australia, the French team can finally break the drought for both its drivers in the top-10 thanks to the tenth position of Franco Colapinto.
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Colapinto: 50% satisfaction
Having taken over from Jack Doohan last year from the Emilia-Romagna GP, the Argentine driver returned to the top ten since the 2024 USA GP, then at the wheel of the Williams. A season, also that of 2024, in which Alpine obtained its last ‘double’ in the points zone in the Brazilian GP, then with the French duo formed by Gasly and Esteban Ocon. The latter, in China, was also penalized 10 seconds for contact that occurred precisely with Colapinto at the first corner of the Shanghai circuit: “What a race and what a fantastic day for the team, with both cars in the points – commented the Argentine – I am happy to have scored my first points for Alpine, but I am also frustrated and I would have wanted more. Some things didn’t go the right way today and, although returning to the points is a good achievement, I know we could have done more, which bodes well for the next races. We had an incredible start and made up many positions. We were comfortably in fifth and sixth position before the Safety Car came out. This neutralized the pack and everyone on hard tires stayed on track, including me. After, we went long and then, unfortunately, we were hit by Esteban on the way out of the pits. He came to apologize afterwards and everything was fine. We lost some downforce due to floor damage and didn’t have enough pace or laps available to catch Carlos [Sainz] at the end. Extra points were literally within our reach! Congratulations also to Pierre. There was great teamwork today and some good battles on track”.
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The overtake on Verstappen
Colapinto thus congratulated Gasly, the protagonist of battles after the entry of the Safety Car from which he emerged victorious, but which did not allow him to reach Oliver Bearman for fifth position: “It’s a great result for the team today and a solid weekend in general, with both cars in the points. Obviously I’m happy with the result, even if inside me the driver is a bit annoyed for not having obtained fifth place, which I believe was ultimately reachable. I felt very comfortable in the car again today and the pace was there. We managed to keep an eye on the lead group in the first stint. With these new cars, we knew it wasn’t a question of ‘if’ there would be a Safety Car, but ‘when’. In the end it arrived and bunched up the whole pack. At the restart, for some reason, I didn’t have the power or the turbo, and Ollie [Bearman] overtook me. With all the fighting with Max Verstappen and the other cars around me, I lost ground to Ollie and had a big gap to close. I pushed as if every lap was a qualifying lap, which was fun and I managed to catch him, however I couldn’t get close enough to attempt the overtake. It’s a fantastic result and there are still many things to improve. setup. Hopefully we can maintain the pace shown this weekend in the next races too”.
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