Alpine hit with €5,000 fine over Franco Colapinto breach after FIA investigation
The FIA is F1's governing body
The Alpine F1 team has been fined €5,000 for a breach with Franco Colapinto’s car at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the FIA has announced.
Colapinto is yet to score a point for Alpine since replacing Jack Doohan ahead of May’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Alpine hit with €5,000 by FIA after Las Vegas Grand Prix tyre breach
The former Williams driver’s woes continued in Las Vegas – the scene of his huge 50G crash in 2024 – where he could only manage 15th in a rain-affected qualifying session as teammate Pierre Gasly reached Q3.
Under F1’s rules, teams are required to return one set of intermediate tyres within two hours of the end of the session when a practice session is declared wet.
Alpine physically returned a set of intermediate tyres after FP3 was declared wet in Las Vegas.
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However, the team failed to register the return of the tyres electronically, with the FIA launching an investigation after the breach was noted by technical delegate Jo Bauer.
F1’s governing body has announced that Alpine has been fined for the procedural infringement.
The stewards’ verdict read: “The Stewards heard from the team representative of Car 43 (Franco Colapinto).
“Although the tyres were returned physically there is still a responsibility to electronically lodge their return with the FIA and this was not done.”
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The FIA stewards have been busy in the aftermath of qualifying in Las Vegas, with the Mercedes team also finding itself under investigation over a procedural breach.
The Brackley-based outfit failed to provide a set-up sheet for the cars of both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli for qualifying.
However, Mercedes was able to prove to the FIA that the sheets had been sent to the relevant department, with an IT security issue preventing the documents arriving within the required timespan.
The FIA therefore took no further action, with Russell and Antonelli keeping fourth and 17th on the grid.
Carlos Sainz was also investigated for allegedly rejoining the track in an unsafe manner following a brief off at Turn 5 in the early stages of qualifying.
The Williams driver escaped a penalty following a near miss with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, with Sainz free to take up third place on the grid behind polesitter Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
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