Franco Colapinto has lost P8 in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix after the Alpine driver was handed a 10-second time penalty for a yellow flag infringement.
Alpine were close to adding a strong haul of points to their tally as Pierre Gasly and Colapinto crossed the line behind one another in P7 and P8 respectively, helping the team in their mission to top the midfield.
However, the Argentine racer was noted for failing to slow for a yellow flag, with the stewards later determining that a time penalty and a single penalty point should be added to his record.
As a result, Colapinto has dropped to P10 in the final classification, promoting Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson to P8 and Arvid Lindblad to P9.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 43 (Franco Colapinto), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence,” read the panel’s verdict.
“The Stewards determine that, albeit the driver of Car 43 slightly reduced speed before entering the single yellow flag zone, but did not discernibly reduce speed in the relevant yellow flag sector.
“The Stewards acknowledge that the driver reacted to the yellow flag but do not consider the reaction to be sufficient to comply with the regulations. Therefore a penalty on the lower end of the applicable scale of penalties is imposed.”
Colapinto subsequently leaves Round 7 with one point, marking his fourth top-10 Grand Prix finish of the season so far.
