Alpine driver Franco Colapinto drew a dejected response from Karun Chandhok in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the 2025 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old is enjoying his second event as an Alpine F1 driver at the Monaco GP after a disappointing debut for the Enstone crew at Imola last week. Colapinto crashed in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and would only achieve 16th place from P16 on the grid.
Alpine have not seen the tight streets of the Principality prove to be a happy hunting ground for Colapinto ahead of qualifying for the Monaco GP, as well. The Argentine was 19th in FP1 and 20th in FP2 and FP3, also with deficits of 1.856s, 2.060s and 1.898s to Charles Leclerc.
Colapinto has also been noted for a red flag infringement at the end of FP3 after Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton crashed at Massenet. It could see the Buenos Aires native merit penalties at back-to-back events after Colapinto drew a one-place grid penalty at Imola before his crash.
Franco Colapinto frustrated Karun Chandhok by blocking Oliver Bearman in practice for the Monaco GP
His potential red flag infringement was not even Colapinto’s first incident during FP3 for the Monaco GP on Saturday. Chandhok could not hide his disappointment at Colapinto after the Alpine driver intentionally blocked Oliver Bearman of Haas as they prepared to do fast laps.
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Colapinto was crawling on the run from the Swimming Pool chicane to La Rascasse to build a gap to the car ahead. So, Bearman tried to go around the Argentine’s outside, but Colapinto cut across the Briton knowing the Haas star was approaching after checking his mirror twice.
His actions irked Chandhok, who noted on Sky Sports F1 (24/05, 12:02) upon seeing a replay of Colapinto blocking Bearman: “Oh, that’s naughty.” Jenson Button also bluntly added after David Croft queried if Colapinto was trying to get out of the Haas rookie’s trajectory: “No.”
Franco Colapinto is at risk of a Monaco GP grid penalty for a red flag infringement in FP3
Alpine will also not like that Colapinto risked causing a collision with Bearman by pulling his A525 directly into the Haas gem’s path at La Rascasse, with the Argentine leaving very little of the road for the Briton to move into had he not backed out of an overtake early enough.
Enstone chiefs will also be patiently waiting to learn if Colapinto will draw a penalty for his potential red flag infringement after Hamilton’s FP3 crash. Bearman drew a 10-place grid penalty in Monaco for overtaking under a red flag after passing Williams star Carlos Sainz.
The normal penalty for overtaking under a red flag is a five-place grid drop. But the stewards at the Monaco GP felt Bearman merited a harsher penalty after the 20-year-old admitted he ignored the rule as he felt it could have been more dangerous had he slowed down abruptly.
