Franco Colapinto has revealed that studying Pierre Gasly's qualifying performance at Monza played a key role in his breakthrough at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Alpine rookie reached Q3 and finished seventh in Madrid, a marked improvement after struggling to match his teammate earlier.
At Monza, Colapinto qualified eighth while Gasly took a surprise pole. The gap between them grew as qualifying progressed: Gasly was three tenths faster in Q2 and four tenths ahead in Q3, despite Colapinto being just 0.050s behind in Q1. "Pierre was very quick throughout qualifying. In Q1 I was very close, but as the sessions went on, he kept improving more than I did. I have a lot to work on to understand that and learn from how much he was improving with every attempt," Colapinto said at the time.
After Monza, Colapinto delved into the data to understand where Gasly found extra performance. A week later in Madrid, he was consistently faster than his teammate in qualifying and reached Q3, even after abandoning his first Q2 attempt due to an off at the fast La Monumental corner. "Madrid qualifying was one of the best qualifying sessions I've done, with very, very perfect laps and putting the car into Q3. It was always going to be tricky with the Audis and the RBs going very fast here," Colapinto told media including Motorsport.com.
In the race, Colapinto finished seventh, scoring valuable points. "Today we stayed ahead and scored a lot of points. So I'm very happy. Once again, it's extremely positive and I'm very happy with the pace and the results," he added. He believes the work he did after Monza contributed to his Madrid performance. "I ticked everything and I'm very pleased with that. I think after Monza I learned a lot from Pierre's qualifying and I tried to take a step here. I did it and I maximised everything again," he explained.
Asked specifically what he learned from Gasly, Colapinto pointed not only to driving but also to how the more experienced Alpine driver managed the car's energy through the different stages of qualifying. "I think a bit of everything. He is more experienced and the steps he was making in everything, both in driving and energy management, from one run to another," he said. This lesson proved crucial for Colapinto, who now hopes to continue challenging his senior teammate.
With his Madrid result, Colapinto has shown rapid progress in his adaptation to Alpine. He is not only learning from data but also from Gasly's experience in wheel-to-wheel battles. Now, his focus is on maintaining consistency and continuing to improve for the rest of the season.
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