Alpine rookie struggles at Imola
Personally, this past week has been pretty hectic for me, and even though I'm technically a week behind on my F1 coverage this year, I didn't want to waste the draft I had written up. So, I'll have quite a bit of work to do this week as I draft and post my coverage of Round 8 which took place a few days ago, prepare for Round 9 which takes place in a few days, and write up a few more personal blogs! So here we go with my coverage of the Round 7 race at Imola!
During my last update, I realized that I had begun to focus too heavily on McLaren this year, and that I needed to write about other teams and drivers if I truly wished to be an unbiased motorsport journalist. With that being said, this post will be structured a little differently than my previous blogs, starting out with a basic overview of the Podium Finishers of the race.
Podium Finishers
After a brilliant move at Turn 1 on the opening Lap, Max Verstappen took the lead of the race and would go on to cruise to a huge victory in Imola last weekend. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would claim the last two spots on the podium, finishing P2 and P3 respectively, giving McLaren yet another double podium finish this season.
WATCH THE RACE START 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 18, 2025
Absolute class from Max Verstappen 💪#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/rld4niA0lm
Team Highlight: BWT Alpine
This week, I decided to focus on BWT Alpine for the race at Imola, which has received a lot of scrutiny in the media lately after switching out their rookie driver after only 6 races. The Alpine team now consists of drivers Pierre Gasly and rookie Franco Colapinto, with the recently replaced rookie, Jack Doohan, being kept on as a reserve driver.
Qualifying Recap
Colapinto looked really strong to start Q1 and manage to set a decent time that would have advanced him to Q2 if he wouldn't have wrecked during his final push lap. This red flag prevented Ollie Bearman from advancing to Q2 and even though Colapinto received a one place grid penalty, in my mind it should bring up a rule revision for qualifying. I think it would be more beneficial to F1 as a whole if they adopted the same red flag rule that the GT series uses, which is if a driver causes a red flag during qualifying, then his or her 2 fastest lap times are deleted.
Franco Colapinto suffers a big off as he makes his Formula 1 qualifying return 💔#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/sAEc1kGrcj
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 17, 2025
Either way, Colapinto would be starting from P15 while his teammate Pierre Gasly was able to make it into Q3, where he would eventually go slowest in the session and start the race from P10. Personally, I think this shows a lot of composure from Gasley with all the team changes going on around him, And I just hope that his performance continues to get better as the season progresses.
Imola GP Recap
Before the race started, the only question on my mind was whether or not Colapinto would be able to finish the race, because his crash during Q1 didn't bode well in my opinion. He seemed to do well from the start, although he did lose a couple positions early on in Lap 1 which could have easily been dismissed as being cautious around the more experienced and aggressive drivers around him.
Other than that, the rookie did really well, and managed to hold his own against the other drivers on the grid, but I will say that I really didn't notice anything special from Colapinto during the race. I mean, he did look pretty comfortable behind the wheel and kept his vehicle under control during the race, so there’s something at least.
Gasly did really well at the start, and only dropped down to P14 after Charles Leclerc made contact with the Alpine, which saw the Frenchman run wide and slightly into gravel (pictured below). Honestly, if Leclerc hadn't made contact with Gasly at the previous turn, I think that he may have fought a little harder with the Ferrari.
In terms of pace, Colapinto and Gasly seemed to be pretty evenly matched throughout the entire race, which shows that the rookie has quite a bit of skill to work with as the season progresses. At the same time, I hope Colapinto will have longer than 5 races to prove to the upper management at Alpine that he will be able to continue to drive at this level, or else he may suffer the same fate as Jack Doohan.
At the end of the day, Colapinto would go on to finish his first race of 2025 at P16, which isn't horrible, but there is definitely room for improvement to be made. Unfortunately for his more experienced teammate, Gasly wasn't able to do too much after getting passed by Leclerc on the opening lap, and would end up finishing the day at P13.
Looking Forward
The young Argentine, and the rest of the grid for that matter, will definitely have their work cut out for them as Formula 1 heads to Monaco for Round 8, which will be a true test of the rookie's skills, determination, and pace behind the wheel of the Alpine machine.