Formula 2: what was the mistake that condemned Franco Colapinto to be away from the fight in the Bahrain GP Sprint

A mistake at the time of the match condemned Franco Colapinto to a rather gratifying 18th place in the Formula 2 sprint race which took place this Friday in Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhirand which is part of the first racing weekend of the 2024 season of the category serving as the opening act for Formula 1.

The driver born 20 years ago in Pilar had achieved the 16th best time in Thursday’s ranking and had gained an extra position on the starting grid following the exclusion of the Indian Kush Maini after a violation of the height of the outer left front fascia of his vehicle was detected.

For this reason Colapinto placed 15th as a starter. However, The Argentine was delayed on the reconnaissance lap and this ended up sealing his fate. The fact is that the Argentine boy should not have started from the grid, which he arrived at after avoiding some cars already in position, but he should have started from the pits.

Even without realizing the mistake, Pilar’s driver managed to make a good start which allowed him to overtake the Mexican Rafael Villagomez and Japanese Miyata returns in the first round. And in the third turn, after a neutralization with a virtual security machine due to a mistake by the Belgian Amaury Cordellhe also managed to overtake the American Juan Manuel Correa.

However, in the ninth round, When he remained in 12th place, he was told he had to complete a 10-second stop and go in the pits for the error at the start.

This situation relegated him to 20th and penultimate place in the group, ahead only of Villagómez (he had had to stop to change a tire, so he had lost almost a lap). From there Colapinto, aboard car number 12 of the team MP Motorsporthe tried to move up in the last 14 laps of the race, but could only reach 18th place.

“I really don’t know what happened. I had a problem with the clutch on the formation lap. When I released him, he didn’t come out. We were in the right drawer, so I don’t know what happened. “I don’t know why they penalized me.”he explained to the Argentine after the sprint race. “The pace wasn’t that bad, now we have to work for tomorrow. It’s a longer career, with more opportunities.”added the Williams Academy driver, who last year finished fourth in the Formula 3 championship.

The sprint test on Friday was won by the Barbadian Zane Maloneyof the Rodin Motorsport team, who preceded the American by 5,490 Jack Crawford (Dams Lucas Oil), protagonist of a great comeback after starting from 10th place. The third step of the podium was occupied by the Spaniard Josep Maria Marti (Campos Racing), also up eight positions compared to the eleventh starting place.

The Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Campos Racing), the Estonian Paul Aron (Hitech Pulse-Eight), the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta Racing), the British Zak O’Sullivan (Art Grand Prix) and the Norwegian Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) .

The main competition of the first round of the Formula 2 season will take place on Saturday from 7.30am and will cover 32 laps of the 5,412 meter Bahrain International Circuit. Also in this race Colapinto will start from 15th place.