Formula 2: Franco Colapinto’s weekend of terror ended with a spin that forced him to retire

Saturday was frustrating for Franco Colapintowho barely managed to complete 14 laps in the second round of the season Formula 2 which took place on the street circuit of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Argentine driver spun when he was 11th and had to abandon the race which was eventually won by the Brazilian Enzo Fittipaldi.

With the aim of improving the result obtained on Friday in the sprint race (he had finished 11th), Colapinto started from 12th place in a race in which first place went to the Indian Kush Mainiwho inherited this privilege as the owner of the pole positionthe British Oliver Bearman did not participate in the competition because he was called up by the Ferrari team to replace the Spaniard Carlos Sainz in the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The start of the race gave the signal of how difficult the day would be for the young man born 20 years ago in Pilar and representative of the MP Motorsport team. The Spaniard Josep María Martí (Campos Racing) starts He spun on the exit of Turn 2 and collided with Colapinto and with Estonian Paul Aron (Hitech Pulse-Eight). The accident forced the entry of the safety car and the competition was neutralized.

Although he managed to continue the race, The Argentine suffered a broken front wing of his car. Less fortunate were Martí, the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta Racing) and the Czech Roman Stanek (Trident), who had to abandon the race.

When the Safety machine Having abandoned the fast urban track of Jeddah (it is the fastest city circuit of all those included in the Formula 1 and Formula 2 calendars), the Argentine managed to maintain an acceptable performance, which allowed him to remain in the fight to access the positions that reward points.

But at the end of the 14th lap, when he was 11th, behind the Barbadian Zane Maloney (Rodin Motorsport) and ahead of the Frenchman Victor Martins (ART Grand Prinx), Colapinto grazed the wall in the last corner of the track with his left rear tire. This caused suspension damage which caused him to spin into Turn 1. There his car stalled and his hopes of winning remained there.

Without the Williams Academy driver in the fracas (he was seen crying uncontrollably after his abandonment), it was back to the track at full speed on lap 18 with the Ecuadorian Juan Manuel Correa (Dams Lucas Oil) on the tip and with Enzo Fittipaldi in fourth place. But in just three laps the Brazilian from the Van Amersfoort team jumped into the lead: first he left the British Taylor Barnard (PHM AIX Racing) behind him and then, with a brilliant maneuver, he overtook the Belgian Amaury Cordeel (Hitech Pulse-Eight ) and Correa.

Since, Fittipaldi never looked back and built a comfortable lead which allowed him to celebrate his first category victory in a main event (he had won the sprint at Spa-Francorchamps in 2023). Escorting the winner were Kush Maini and the Norwegian Dennis Hauger, Colapinto’s teammate in MP Motorsport.

Zane Maloney finished seventh and remains the championship leader with 47 points. With Saturday’s victory Fittipaldi jumps into second place with 32, further behind Hauger (31) and Aron (28). Colapinto failed to add a single unit this weekendhe has 8 left and is 12th in the competition.

The next Formula 2 tests will take place in two weeks on the Melbourne circuit (Australia): qualifying will take place on Friday 22nd, the sprint race on Saturday 23rd and the main test on Sunday 24th (the times have not yet been confirmed).