Franco Colapinto comes clean on his crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying: “I’d rather go fast and crash, than go slowly and not crash"

Franco Colapinto’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying came to a bruising end after the Alpine rookie found the wall in Q1, triggering one of six red flags in a chaotic session. Both Alpine drivers bowed out early, with Colapinto’s mistake adding to Pierre Gasly’s own moments earlier.

The Baku weekend had already been full of tension. The track delivered constant stoppages, and for Alpine, the drama arrived at the worst possible time. Gasly ran wide into the Turn 4 run-off in the dying seconds of Q1, and just behind, Colapinto lost control of his A524. The Argentine’s crash left Alpine’s cars stranded in the same sector, a double elimination that summed up their difficult Saturday.

Afterward, Colapinto faced the cameras and admitted he preferred to push the limits, even at the cost of a mistake. Speaking via Formula Racers, he said:

"It's a shame that I crashed the car. But I would rather go fast and crash, than go slowly and not crash."

The incident highlighted both the aggression and the fine margins required around Baku’s walls. Franco Colapinto explained in detail what went wrong. His first runs on softs had been encouraging, with Alpine appearing closer to the fight for Q2 than in previous rounds.

But a gust of wind into Turn 4 unsettled the car in his final push. He lost the rear, rebounded against the barriers, scattering debris before coming to a stop.

"I was up on my delta at the start of the final lap in Q1, but a big gust of wind into Turn 4 meant I lost the rear completely and made contact with the wall on the outside. Wind tends to play a major factor here, but it seemed more so today with gusts catching a lot of people out with multiple incidents and stoppages throughout Qualifying," he explained, this time speaking to F1.

Pierre Gasly, who had been Alpine’s lead driver all season, was also caught out at the same corner. Both cars dropped out together in Q1, Gasly in P19, and Colapinto in P20. Despite the crash, Colapinto did achieve a small milestone: for the first time, he out-qualified Gasly in back-to-back weekends. His Q1 time of 1:42.779 edged out Gasly’s 1:43.139, though it provided little comfort in the aftermath of the wreck.

It was a far cry from Franco Colapinto’s Baku memories of 2024, when he scored an eighth-place finish for Williams. That high had raised expectations, but this time Alpine left with damage to repair and questions to answer.

---

Franco Colapinto faces pressure as Alpine boss warns of 'tough race' in Baku

Flavio Briatore and Franco Colapinto of Alpine at Spa-Francorchamps. Source: Getty

Franco Colapinto’s mistake comes at a delicate moment in his F1 career. Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore has made clear that while Pierre Gasly’s place is secure, the second seat remains under review. Jack Doohan is still in the frame, while Academy talents Paul Aron and Kush Maini are pushing their cases. For Colapinto, every weekend feels like an audition.

The warning signs had been there all weekend. Alpine sat 19th and 20th in Friday practice and failed to climb out of the final six in any of the three sessions. Briatore admitted the team had made progress across the weekend, but the conditions caught both drivers out.

"It has not been a good day for the team with both cars out in Q1. This track has proved difficult for us and we appeared to make small steps forward session by session in improving our package.... In any case, not the outcome we wanted and some repairs to do ahead of the race. It will be a tough race and we have to at least aim to be in a position to capitalize on any potential circumstance," Briatore told reporters.

Baku has a history of delivering shocks. The narrow city circuit, with its close walls, blind entries, and punishing braking zones, often produces unpredictable outcomes. With the possibility of rain and the softer compounds Pirelli have picked this weekend, the race could swing in unexpected directions for Franco Colapinto.

Edited by Rupesh