Franco Colapinto admitted he left the 2026 F1 Italian GP frustrated after a costly mistake denied him the opportunity to capitalise on an impressive run towards the front of the field at Monza.
The Alpine driver started the race from seventh and found himself fourth following Charles Leclerc’s heavy crash at the Parabolica, which triggered a red flag early in the Grand Prix. Colapinto then briefly climbed as high as third after the restart before losing the rear in Lesmo 1, running through the gravel and dropping outside the points.
Despite falling as low as 16th, the Argentine fought his way back through the field. He later passed both Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto following a Virtual Safety Car period. The 23-year-old also overtook Ocon, Sainz and Tsunoda on his comeback drive.
He ultimately crossed the line in ninth, securing two points for Alpine.
Colapinto frustrated after missing chance for stronger result
Franco Colapinto made clear after the race that the mistake proved particularly difficult to accept because of the position he had put himself in. Alpine had shown competitive pace at Monza, with Pierre Gasly starting from pole position, while the driver of car #43 also found himself battling cars from Formula 1’s leading teams.
However, after briefly reaching the top three, before Max Verstappen passed him at the second chicane, he made that hugely costly errors at the first Lesmo.
“I’m just frustrated. I think I did so much stuff. I just lost the car completely in turn 6. A bit out of nowhere, it’s very frustrating. I think I’ve done some good things, P2 and P3 together. And you know, you feel so strong and suddenly fighting with the top teams, you get very motivated very quickly. A mistake like that throws the soul away. I’m just frustrated, I don’t really understand yet what happened. I lost the car very aggressively.”
Colapinto managed to avoid the wall despite going through the gravel at fairly big speed, and he worked to make the Alpine more manageable as he attempted to recover the lost positions.
“And I went very fast to re-grab it at the other time. It was important not to retire here. Then we started to go again. We changed the car a little bit with the tools. We fixed everything, but then we made the car slightly more drivable again. And yeah, I managed to score points.”
Although the points represented a positive outcome after his excursion, Colapinto felt Alpine had given him an opportunity to achieve considerably more at Monza.
“It’s a very good start for me. I’m just frustrated with not maximizing the car and the good stuff that we were doing together. I think we just learn for the future. We don’t get many of these opportunities fighting high up there and at the front. It’s extra frustrating too. To have moments like this, I think we should have scored more points.So yeah, sorry to the team. And hopefully we’ll have a better weekend in Madrid.”
Fighting the leading teams gives Colapinto encouragement
The 2026 F1 Italian GP also provided Colapinto with an unusual opportunity to race directly against some of the leading contenders.
After the red flag, Colapinto lined up fourth behind George Russell, Gasly and Max Verstappen for the second standing start. He initially launched ahead of the Dutchman before the Red Bull driver reclaimed the position around the outside of the second chicane.
Having progressed from seventh and briefly reached third during the race, Colapinto acknowledged that fighting at the front encouraged him to push harder than he otherwise might have done. In hindsight, however, he conceded that taking those additional risks may not have been necessary.
“Yeah, that’s why I think it’s so frustrating. It’s P7 to P3. It’s very good. I got four of the top teams’ cars on restarts. And that’s why it hurts so much to throw it away. That’s why you are taking more risks and being up there with them. And you don’t realize that it’s not really your fight. You’re feeling the volume and you want to keep going and taking risks. And maybe it didn’t make sense. I am just to learn from it and try to improve for the next time I get a chance like this.”
Colapinto reflects on fighting Verstappen
Colapinto’s charge also gave him the opportunity to race wheel-to-wheel with four-time World Champion Verstappen.
Although Colapinto played down the significance of overtaking a multiple World Champion, he valued the opportunity to compete directly against machinery Alpine does not regularly find itself fighting.
“Yeah, it was okay. I think when you’re in the car you don’t really feel the difference if it’s one or another. It was cool to be fighting with them. That’s what I meant. To be fighting side by side with the top cars and the top teams, we cannot really do it. And so to just miss an opportunity like this, it’s very painful.”
His disappointment therefore centred less on the eventual ninth-place finish and more on the potential he had seen earlier in the afternoon. With Alpine able to place both cars in unusually competitive positions at Monza, Colapinto recognised how rare such opportunities can be.
Smart decisions and costly mistakes balance out at Monza
Colapinto also used the chaotic nature of the Italian GP to his advantage at several points. When Leclerc crashed at the Parabolica in the opening stages, he anticipated that the incident would lead to a Safety Car and committed his available battery energy to gain as much ground as possible before the race became neutralised.
The strategy contributed to his rapid progress through the opening phase of the Grand Prix. He passed Piastri before the race was neutralised.
“No, I just used all the battery. Because I knew there was going to be a safety car. I hoped. So I used all the battery there. Yeah, I got quite quick.”
Colapinto also deployed his energy effectively later in the race when the Virtual Safety Car ended, helping him pass Bearman and Bortoleto as he worked his way back towards the points.
However, when it was suggested that his decision following Leclerc’s accident had been a smart piece of racing, the Argentine offered a typically self-critical assessment of his afternoon.
“Yeah, there were some smart things and some pretty stupid ones too. I guess they balanced each other out. Learn for next year.”
Colapinto ultimately left the 2026 F1 Italian GP with ninth place after recovering from his earlier mistake, while teammate Gasly finished seventh to secure a double points finish for Alpine. Yet after experiencing what it felt like to race among the leading teams, the Argentine’s overriding feeling remained one of frustration at an opportunity that could have delivered considerably more.
