Both Alpine drivers crashed out of qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a track known for its collisions.
During Q1, Pierre Gasly lost control in Turn 4, leading him to collide with the wall down the escape path.
Franco Colapinto was coming behind Gasly and was met with a white flag rather than a yellow flag.
The Argentine kept pushing his Alpine, though he lost control similarly to Gasly, resulting in contact with the wall rather than going into the escape road.
Colapinto lost control of the rear, something that can happen often when there are intense winds.
“There was no yellow [flag],” Colapinto told reporters after the session.
“It’s always a distraction when someone goes off in the escape road and you don’t know if it’s going to reverse, but, yeah, that doesn’t change the fact I lost the rear really aggressively and I don’t really know the reason at the moment, but I need to see data and understand why.
“It was very tricky, and probably a lot of wind there. I went into the corner and I lost the rear, completely. I don’t really know the reason for it.
“I guess it’s a lot of tailwind. I think it was something like 60kph, and when it hits you like that, it lifts the rear, and I almost lost the rear completely.
“So something similar to what happened to Pierre in front. But he went into the escape road, so I couldn’t really go there and avoid the crash, because he was still there.”
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Colapinto is under massive pressure to turn his season around. He swapped part-way through the season with fellow rookie Jack Doohan, though the Argentine has not impressed the leadership at the team.
A crash comes alongside a hefty repair bill and a long night for the engineers. Colapinto can make up for his crash with a points scoring effort, which will be hard from 16th.
2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Results
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Carlos Sainz (Williams)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Ollie Bearman (Haas)
- Franco Colapinto (Williams)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Esteban Ocon (Haas)
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