Franco Colapinto has revealed that the analysis of Pierre Gasly’s qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix helped him improve his performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished seventh after reaching Q3.
Colapinto felt the pressure after achieving an eighth position in Monza, while his Alpine teammate, Gasly, surprisingly secured the pole. This situation was remarkable, as before this session, both drivers had been closely matched. In the first qualifying round, Gasly was the fastest, with Colapinto in fourth position, just 0.050 seconds behind.
Despite this initial closeness, the gap widened as qualifying progressed. Gasly was three tenths faster in Q2 and four in Q3. Colapinto recognized that Gasly’s constant improvement was clear: ‘He was very fast throughout the qualifying. In Q1 I was very close, but as the sessions progressed, he kept improving more than I did. I need to work to understand this and learn to manage the improvements with each attempt while I fell a bit behind.’
After the Monza race, Colapinto studied the data to identify where Gasly had found additional performance. A week later, at the Madrid circuit, the Argentine driver showed consistent performance, surpassing his teammate during qualifying and entering Q3, despite having to discard his first attempt in Q2 due to an incident at the La Monumental corner.
‘The Madrid qualifying was one of the best I’ve done, with very well-executed laps and reaching Q3. It was a challenge competing against the Audi and Red Bull that were also very fast here,’ Colapinto commented after the race, where he finished in seventh position.
The driver reflected on how the post-Monza analysis contributed to his performance in Madrid, stating: ‘I scored all the points and I’m very satisfied. I think that after Monza I learned a lot from Pierre’s qualifying and I tried to take a step forward here. I achieved it and maximized it once again.’
In response to the question about the lessons learned from Gasly, Colapinto pointed out that he not only learned to drive better, but also to manage the energy of the car during qualifying phases: ‘I think I learned from everything. He is more experienced, and the steps he took, both in driving and in energy management, were very clear to me.’
Colapinto felt these lessons translated into his improvement in Madrid: ‘I was very focused during the qualifying here, on a circuit that is probably the hardest of the year to achieve a perfect lap. Both Q2 and Q3 were amazing laps. Again, I took a step forward, and that is what I was looking for. I am satisfied with that.’
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
