Alpine F1 team principal Steve Nielsen joked that Franco Colapinto should return to Argentina before every Grand Prix after signing in Miami his best result to date.
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Nielsen also revealed that Colapinto had a new lightweight chassis in Florida, an evolution representing, according to him, a pure performance gain.
Before Miami, Colapinto had participated in a demonstration in the streets of Buenos Aires in front of about 600,000 spectators, an attendance higher than that of many Grand Prix weekends.
A beneficial return to roots
The Argentine driver had taken the wheel of the Enstone team’s E20, alongside a replica of the Mercedes W156 once driven by the Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio.
In the Miami race, Colapinto crossed the line in eighth position before being promoted to seventh after a 20-second penalty was given to Charles Leclerc for multiple track limit violations on the last lap. This now constitutes the best result of his Formula 1 career, despite contact early in the race with Lewis Hamilton.
After a difficult start against Pierre Gasly, Nielsen believes a real psychological breakthrough seems to have occurred: “We talked a lot with Franco. He had a bit of trouble at first matching Pierre’s pace. I don’t know if it’s simply the fact of having had some free time and returning to Argentina that allowed him to reset mentally, but he is more comfortable with the car here than he had been so far this season. I hope this continues. I told him yesterday: maybe you should go back to Argentina before every race.”
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A new lighter chassis
Part of the progress made by Colapinto could also come from the fact that he used a new chassis in Miami. Nielsen explained that the first chassis made at the start of the season are generally heavier due to FIA homologation requirements, notably for crash tests.
“The new chassis was not a secret,” he said. “Normally, the first chassis built is the heaviest, then the following ones become lighter as evolutions progress. This is no exception. Franco now has chassis number three. It is lighter than chassis number one he used before, because the latter is mainly used for front impact tests. So we were able to give him this chassis, which allowed him to lose a bit of weight — within regulatory limits — which is positive. ”
Alpine progressing strongly
Nielsen also highlighted that Alpine has worked particularly well on weight management this season: “It’s something we are doing well this year. The cars are exactly at the weight limit or very slightly above. We have been consistent on this all year, which is positive. Not everyone manages it, and every kilo saved represents pure performance.”
Thanks to this good start to the season, Alpine currently occupies fifth place in the constructors’ championship, a clear improvement that already allows the team to have surpassed its points total from the previous season.
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