Franco Colapinto found himself briefly at the sharp end of a chaotic 2026 F1 Chinese GP as strategy and a Safety Car reshuffled the field in Shanghai. The Argentine climbed into P2 after the early neutralisation, running at the front while several rivals had boxed.
Colapinto held firm in the restart battles for as long as he could and fought Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman in a tense midfield scrap.
His race later took a hit after contact with Ocon during the pit phase spun both drivers, but the Argentine remained part of the fight in a race that ultimately saw Kimi Antonelli claim his maiden Formula 1 victory and gave the Alpine driver his first point for the team.
Colapinto frustrated as safety car timing derails promising strategy
Franco Colapinto left the 2026 F1 Chinese GP with mixed feelings after a strong drive unravelled through no fault of his own. The Argentine made an excellent launch on the hard compound and positioned himself well as the first driver attempting a long opening stint. His strategy initially looked promising and had him in a brilliant P6 early doors.
However, the timing of the safety car reshaped the race and removed much of that advantage. Colapinto argued that the intervention cost him dearly, especially given how officials had managed similar situations earlier in the season.
From that point, his focus shifted towards holding up rivals on fresher tyres to support Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly as the team fought for points.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating because I did a very good race, I had a very good start on the hard tyre, I was in a really good position, first car on the hard tyre and our strategy going long.
“Then yeah, I don’t know, in Melbourne there was a VSC for everything, a car on fire and VSC, and here for the first car that stops driving, that’s a safety car, I mean I don’t really understand their logic around that, but it killed my race, I’m really unlucky.
“I did my best to stay in front of the guys on the new hard, to try and help Pierre [Gasly] because my race was already kind of tricky to score.”
Contact with Ocon and tyre struggles compound Colapinto’s frustration
Colapinto’s race suffered another setback during the pit cycle when he rejoined just ahead of Esteban Ocon. The two made contact soon after, leaving significant floor damage that hurt both balance and performance.
Ocon later apologised for the incident after what had been a close fight between Colapinto and the former Alpine driver.
The driver from Argentina continued to push, but heavy degradation on the medium tyres made the final stint difficult, leaving him frustrated as a stronger points result at 2026 F1 Chinese GP slipped away.
“Then we stopped three laps after Esteban, I came out in front, I did really good laps on the old hard and he hit me on the rear right, I had a big big hole on the floor, which was not great for the performance and not great for the balance.
“He came back and said sorry and it’s all good. We had a nice fight with each other during the race, really close, and at the end it didn’t finish well, but he apologised.
“It’s all fine, I think we need to keep working with the team, it was really tough with the medium, a lot of graining, not nice to drive the car, and it’s just not as positive as it could have been.
“I did what I could, I pushed really hard, I did the best race as I could, but we should have come up with more, we should have gotten many more points than we had today, and that’s annoying me, which is good to be annoyed by that, but of course when this opportunity slips away, it’s not nice.”
Franco Colapinto sees progress despite frustration over lost points at 2026 F1 Chinese GP
Despite the disappointment, Colapinto acknowledged that running consistently inside the top ten marked clear progress compared to the previous season. Being frustrated about finishing behind slower cars reflected how expectations around the team had shifted.
The late contact with Ocon remained a source of irritation, however. Colapinto explained that the impact damaged his Alpine and cost him valuable points, even though the Frenchman later apologised for the incident. At the end, he came up behind Carlos Sainz but could not pass the Williams because of the damage and tyre struggles.
“It’s a much better feeling, and as I said before, it’s quite good to be disappointed for this, just to end up behind slower cars, it’s not what we wanted.
“I didn’t see the replay, he just hit me on the rear right and broke my car, but you know it is what it is. He apologised and he’s all good, I’m super good, but of course really annoying to have lost a few points for that.”
