Breaking:Franco Colapinto Hit with Grid Penalty at Imola After Qualifying Misunderstanding…read more

Franco Colapinto’s return to the Formula 1 grid has hit a bump after a qualifying mix-up led to a grid penalty ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. The FIA has confirmed the Argentine driver will drop one position on the grid due to a breach during Saturday’s qualifying session.

Colapinto, who recently made his full-time debut for Alpine, stepped in to replace Jack Doohan after the Miami Grand Prix. This weekend at Imola was set to mark a significant milestone in the young driver’s career — but things took a turn during Q1 of qualifying.

A red flag was brought out following a heavy crash involving Yuki Tsunoda. As the session was paused, teams awaited the signal for the restart. However, confusion ensued in the Alpine garage. According to the FIA report, Colapinto misunderstood a team instruction and exited into the fast lane of the pit before the restart time was officially confirmed.

The incident was quickly noticed by race officials, and a hearing was held with both Colapinto and a representative from Alpine. After reviewing the details, the stewards concluded that Colapinto had breached Article 12.2.1 i) of the International Sporting Code, as well as the race director’s specific event notes for the session.

In their official statement, the FIA explained: “The team representative stated that he gave the instruction for the car to creep out but not be fully released. The driver misunderstood the instruction and entered the fast lane before the re-start time was officially confirmed.”

By the time the team realized the miscommunication, it was too late to recall Colapinto, and he was instructed to continue down the pit lane.

While Alpine argued that no competitive advantage was gained from the move — noting that there was still plenty of time left in the session for other teams to complete their runs — the stewards determined that a penalty was necessary.

“The stewards considered that the breach was inadvertent,” the FIA continued. “However, it did require a sporting penalty to be imposed. As the breach was unintentional and did not result in any sporting advantage, we decided to impose a one-position grid penalty.”

Both Colapinto and the Alpine representative expressed regret over the incident and offered apologies during the hearing. The FIA emphasized that while leniency was given due to the nature of the mistake, similar infractions could be met with stricter penalties in the future.

The penalty slightly dents what was otherwise a promising weekend for Colapinto, who has been looking to make a strong impression in his return to full-time racing. Though the drop is only one grid position, it serves as a reminder of the importance of clear communication between driver and team — especially under red flag conditions where protocols must be followed to the letter.

As the F1 circus prepares for the main race on Sunday, all eyes will be on the young Argentine to see how he responds on track after this early setback.