Franco Colapinto has revealed that studying Pierre Gasly’s performance during qualifying at Monza was a determining factor for his performance at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he achieved a remarkable seventh position after qualifying for Q3.
After a disappointing qualifying session in Monza, where he finished in eighth position while Gasly achieved a surprising pole, Colapinto realized that he needed to work on his maneuvers to close the gap with his teammate. In Q1, Colapinto was only 0.050 seconds behind Gasly, but as the sessions progressed, the distance widened, with Gasly being three tenths faster in Q2 and four in Q3.
Colapinto commented that ‘Pierre was very fast throughout the qualifying. In Q1 I was very close, but throughout the sessions he improved more than I did, so I needed to understand how he was improving with each attempt.’ This reflection led him to analyze the data from Monza to understand how Gasly had found more performance.
Once in Madrid, his work bore fruit: Colapinto was consistently faster than Gasly during qualifying and managed to reach Q3, despite having to abandon his first attempt in Q2 after making a mistake in the fast corner La Monumental.
After the race, Colapinto expressed his satisfaction, highlighting that ‘the qualifying in Madrid was one of the best I’ve done, with almost perfect laps.’ Furthermore, he pointed out the significant challenge posed by fast competition vehicles like Audi and Red Bull on the circuit.
Colapinto added that the experience gained in Monza was crucial for his performance in Madrid. ‘I was able to apply everything I learned from Gasly, both in driving and in managing energy during the different phases of qualifying,’ he concluded.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
