Alpine’s Franco Colapinto risks ‘severe’ penalty for the Emilia-Romagna GP
17th May 2025Alpine’s Franco Colapinto is under investigation at Formula 1’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, for entering the pit lane early, which could result in a ‘severe’ penalty.
Feature image credit: Alpine F1
Colapinto, who is taking part in his debut weekend for Alpine, has been placed under investigation for entering the fast lane of the pit lane ahead of a confirmed time after Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed.
Replays showed that Colapinto was released into the pit lane by his mechanic, who was reportedly meant to hold the Argentine and not release him.
However, once in the pit lane, the Alpine driver crept his way towards the pit exit and led the pack out on the track when the session resumed. The Argentine is now set to be investigated after qualifying.
This is the second time this type of incident has occurred this season, after the two Mercedes fell foul of this in Bahrain.
However, the steward’s report, in Bahrain, suggests that Colapinto could face a more severe penalty than the two Mercedes received, over a month ago.
The Mercedes Incident
In Bahrain, when the one-place grid penalties were dished out to both Russell and Antonelli, the stewards said:
“A similar breach in different circumstances, could entail a more severe sporting penalty, in future.”
It was confirmed that Mercedes made the mistake in Bahrain, as it was reported that the team had mistaken the estimated restart time for the actual restart time and released both cars into the pit lane.
Although it was deemed to be ‘a genuine mistake by the team,’ in the eyes of the stewards, with plenty of time for other drivers to complete their runs, the FIA Single Seater Sporting Director claimed it could be a sporting advantage.
They deemed that if a sporting penalty was not applied, other teams could just send out their cars as soon as an estimated time is published. The stewards agreed with that statement. In addition, it was argued that some drivers might not be able to complete their runs, whilst others could.
Whilst it was argued that a non-sporting penalty could be given, Mercedes suggested that if a sporting penalty was to be given, ‘it should be mitigated.’ In the end, with mitigating circumstances, the two Mercedes drivers were given one-place grid penalties for the incident.
Colapinto investigation
Whilst the Colapinto is not at fault for the incident, having been released by his team, the incident itself, another mistake, is different to the Mercedes’. It was confirmed by Colapinto’s team radio that they were meant to hold him, not release him into the pit lane.
In the communication, Colapinto’s race engineer said:
“Sorry mate, that was meant to be a hold that wasn’t a full release. We’re just going to creep out.”
Due to the different circumstances of the two incidents, and based on the wording by the Stewards, it could result in a larger grid penalty than the ones Mercedes got in Bahrain. It’s unclear how severe the penalty could be, as the stewards’ wording is vague for future incidents.
However, whilst a sporting penalty is expected, Colapinto could potentially be mitigated as the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix is his first race in F1, with a new team, since the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, back in December.
Ahead of his investigation with the stewards, Colapinto is expected to start 15th on the Emilia-Romagna GP grid, at the very least, having secured a place in Q2 despite his late crash at the end of Q1.
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