Colapinto crash triggers second Imola qualifying red flag

Franco Colapinto has triggered the second red flag of qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Alpine driver crashed out in the final seconds of Qualifying 1 at Imola, nosing into the barrier at Tamburello

Franco Colapinto triggers red flag with Tamburello smash

Franco Colapinto nosed into the barriers on the exit of the opening complex after running wide on exit of the right-hander.

That saw the Alpine pitched into a spin, bouncing over the gravel and crashing into tyre barriers on the outside of the corner.

The impact was sufficient to break the suspension on both front wheels.

Race control threw a red flag with the session clock at zero.

Alpine subsequently confirmed Colapinto had been cleared of injuries following a visit to the circuit’s medical centre.

“Following the incident at the end of Q1, Franco was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks as per the procedure,” the team said.

“He is ok, has been checked and cleared to leave.”

It marked the second stoppage of the session after Yuki Tsunoda rolled following a heavy crash at Variante Villeneuve.

Able to climb from the wrecked Red Bull and taken to the circuit’s medical centre, the Japanese driver had not set a time.

As the session was restarted following the Red Bull’s driver’s crash, Colapinto was noted by stewards for entering the pit lane before too early.

While Alpine waved him out of the garage, a miscommunication meant the Argentinian continued into the fast lane rather than creeping out as intended.

It’s expected Colapinto will pick up a one-place grid penalty for the error, in-keeping with that handed to Mercedes for a similar breach in Bahrain.

He had recorded a time good enough to progress to Qualifying 2, logging a 1:16.256s that left him 15th at the end of the opening segment.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix marks Colapinto’s return to the F1 grid as he replaced Jack Doohan in the second Alpine.

Announced in the days following the Miami Grand Prix, the 21-year-old has a five-race stint in which to make his claim for the drive.

Doohan has remained with the team, performing reserve driver duties on the squad’s Enstone simulator on Friday before attending the circuit on Saturday.

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