Franco Colapinto will take his place on the Spanish Grand Prix grid after Alpine identified the cause of his Q1 issue and replaced the part.

Colapinto’s qualifying came to a premature end at the Barcelona circuit when he wasn’t able to get going while waiting to leave the pit lane for a second run.

Franco Colapinto will make the start grid in Spain

Holding up the queue as the clock counted down the final three minutes, Colapinto told Alpine: “Something is wrong. I release fully the clutch, and I’m still in neutral. It’s not going into first gear.”

He was been told to switch off his engine, his session over.

The Argentinean driver could only watch as his rivals went quicker, pushing him down to 19th place.

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, after qualifying, Colapinto said: “I don’t really know [what the issue was]. I think it’s a pity. We had good pace in the car and were looking strong.

“We found a lot of performance in the car. We just need to focus on tomorrow.

“I think we were strong enough to get to Q2 and it’s just a bit of a pity to end qualy early.”

More on qualifying from the Spanish GP

👉 F1 starting grid: What is the grid order for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix?

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

Alpine later announced that it was a driveline issue.

“Having examined Franco’s car and data after qualifying, the team has identified a driveline issue,” said the team.

The good news for Colapinto is he has avoided a pit lane start as Alpine were able to change his gearbox, fitting the same spec.

“After yesterday’s incident in qualifying,” the team said in a statement issued to PlanetF1.com. “the team replaced the gearbox on Franco’s car, for one of an identical specification. He will start today’s race from P18 on the grid.”

Colapinto even climbed one spot on the grid, up to 18th after Lance Stroll withdrew to due to pain in his hand and wrist, “which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023”.

Colapinto will be hoping to make further gains in the Grand Prix as he seeks to stamp his mark on the Alpine race seat after Flavio Briatore reiterated that only “performance” would ensure the 22-year-old sees out the season as an F1 driver.

“Franco Colapinto,” the Italian said in Friday’s FIA press conference, “we need to wait one second to judge Franco. We see. We see this race. We need the full race.

“We did Monte Carlo. It was a very special race for everybody. We made a lot of mistakes in qualifying. And in Monte Carlo, you know, qualifying well is the race. Especially this race. Monte Carlo, it was very boring and very annoying.

“Let’s see. This is the first real race of Franco. Races, I don’t know, honestly. I never tell five races, three races, four races, one race. We see.

“If Colapinto is performing, he’s driving the car. If not, we’ll see. 2025 is a year we need to prepare ourselves for 2026. So whatever experiment I need doing, we’re doing.

“I don’t know at this moment if Franco will stay for the season or not, but let’s see. Depends on the performance. We’re only looking at the performance — nothing else.”

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