Colapinto: “Quite stupid” for rivals to risk so much at Qatar start

Franco Colapinto says that it was “quite stupid” for rivals to take risks at the start of the Qatar GP.

The Williams driver was collected at the first corner by Esteban Ocon, who had in turn been hit by Nico Hulkenberg, the German having struggled for grip on the hard tyre.

Colapinto and Ocon were out on the spot, while Hulkenberg was able to continue.

The significance for Colapinto was not only did his FW46 sustain more damage he also lost of his last two remaining chances of 2024 to demonstrate his potential.

“It’s very disappointing, I just got taken out at T1, and nothing I could do really,” he said when asked by this writer about his brief race.

“It’s quite frustrating. In T1, starting on the back from P18/19, it’s quite stupid to risk it so much, and I left a very big gap on the inside.

“And they still drove into the side of me. So nothing I could do, We’ll try to understand how we can fix the car for Abu Dhabi, that’s going to be the most important point.”

The high attrition rate made an early retirement even more frustrating.

“It’s not the best situation,” he said. Looking at the race as well, it looked quite exciting. So it would have been quite nice to be there, and trying to fight for points. But it’s part of racing, and unfortunately it didn’t go as planned today.

“Sometimes you have these ups and downs. As Alex, we both had a pretty tough couple of races, and I think the most important thing is try to end up strong in Abu Dhabi, and finish the year on a high.

“We are going to try to fix the car the best we can, and try to go with the best package possible to Abu Dhabi.”

Colapinto acknowledged that it was frustrating to be robbed of one of his last two chances to impress potential future employers.

“Especially to be taken out in Turn 1,” he said. “It’s always the most frustrating, because you cannot really do anything. I didn’t get to do one corner. It’s just disappointing, especially with the race.

“We all thought it was going to be a bit of a boring race, and at the end, it was very exciting, and it opened a lot of opportunities for everyone. So it’s part of racing. Sometimes it doesn’t go as you want.”