Alpine driver Franco Colapinto had one of his finest weekends in F1 as he finished a superb P7 in the 2026 Spanish GP.
In qualifying, he was the lead midfield runner in 9th, beating Arvid Lindblad in Q3. He also was a full 0.7s faster than Pierre Gasly when advancing to the final segment on Saturday afternoon.
A great first lap moved the Argentinian driver up to 7th as he cleared Lawson and Piastri. He was soon P6 as Lewis Hamilton had a brake failure and was forced to retire. While the Red Bull driver did pass him on lap 10, the 23-year-old was always in control of the midfield fight, maintaining position over Lindblad when he pitted under the VSC.
Catching Gabriel Bortoleto, who had not stopped, the Alpine driver was setting 1:38s in clean air. Unfortunately for him, he got stuck behind the Brazilian from lap 38 onwards and was losing more than a second a lap to what he had been doing. It meant the New Zealander in his Red Bull rejoined ahead following his only stop on lap 44.
As overtaking was almost impossible, Colapinto did well to eventually clear car #5 on lap 47. From there, he comfortably held off Oscar Piastri to take a fine 7th at the flag.
On a track where Audi and Racing Bulls were expected to lead the midfield, the former Williams driver delivered a really impressive showing in his A526.
Franco Colapinto on a great day at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Speaking in the print media pen after the race, the driver from Argentina looked back on his great start, tyre management on the hards early doors, and getting the maximum result possible considering the overtaking difficulties.
“Yeah, very good start again, getting used to those.
“It was a positive race after that, I think. Managed very well the tyres, first stint just tried to stay there, manage the tyres as much as I could. The VSC came, so it was good for us.
“But then a very long last stint on the hard, so had to do a lot of management starting that stint. Did a lot of management to make sure that I could make the last part of the race.
“Then caught Bortoleto, who was really slow, but then very tricky to pass. I overtook him, but I lost a lot of time, and I think I lost probably the place to Liam [Lawson]. He came out right in front of us, right in front of [Gabriel] Bortoleto. It was a bit of a pity, I think we lost a place there.
“It was a very strong weekend, maximised everything from the car yesterday. Today, another great start in front of the McLaren, keeping him behind me for the last few laps, pulling away when I pushed [in the last few laps].
“Yeah, just very happy and very proud of the team, I think we maximised the car that we had and it’s not the kind of tracks that suit our car the most. And even then we did an amazing job to score a lot of points and to be in front of the main competitors.”
Virtually impossible to overtake
The Madrid layout is fantastic for a qualifying lap as it requires big commitment and bravery to qualify well. However, for racing is it atrocious, as Sunday’s contest proved.
Franco Colapinto lamented the fact he could pass Gabriel Bortoleto earlier to seal a 6th place finish at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP. He had been within Liam Lawson’s pit window before catching the Audi.
“It was frustrating when I was behind slower cars and couldn’t get past, to be honest. Until I got past, I took a lot of risk behind Bortoleto trying to overtake, and I couldn’t [for a long time].”
Following the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Franco Colapinto is now only four points behind Arvid Lindblad in the Drivers’ Championship.
