Franco Colapinto calls Spanish GP his best Alpine weekend after P7 finish

Colapinto delivers Alpine’s strongest weekend of the season

Franco Colapinto described his seventh-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix as “probably my best race weekend” for Alpine this season after combining strong qualifying pace with a carefully managed race at the Madring.

The Argentinian qualified ninth, finishing ahead of Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly for only the second time this season. He then made a fast start to move ahead of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren before Lewis Hamilton’s retirement opened up further opportunities in the points battle.

Colapinto’s strategy also played a key role. Alpine brought him into the pits during the race’s only Virtual Safety Car period, helping him remain inside the top 10 until the chequered flag. He finished as the best-placed driver outside the leading teams.

“It’s probably my best race weekend in terms of execution this year, I maximised everything in Qualifying and did what I had to do today,” Colapinto said.

The result marked Colapinto’s second consecutive points finish. He had run as high as third at the previous round in Italy before a small mistake dropped him down the order, but his overall form has remained strong: the Spanish result was his eighth points finish in 14 races.

“I think the team did an amazing job and I maximised everything today and yesterday, so very proud of the result,” he added. “Very excited for the future.”

Confidence building for the rest of the season

Colapinto said he was beginning to feel increasingly comfortable with the Alpine and hoped the performance would carry into the upcoming races in Baku and beyond.

“No, I’m just feeling one with the car, I think I’m learning and improving,” he said when asked what had changed in his performances.

He also credited the team’s continued work and said Alpine would focus on reviewing the weekend, developing the car and extracting the maximum from each race. His recent results were ultimately enough to convince Alpine’s senior management to re-sign him ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend.