Mistake, stunning comeback and tears: Franco Colapinto’s cinematic Monza recovery earns Alpine two points

Franco Colapinto’s Italian Grand Prix ended with a ninth-place finish, two points for Alpine and tears that showed how harshly he judged his own mistake.

The Argentine driver had climbed to fourth before running off the track on the sixth lap and falling to 16th. He then launched a determined recovery at Monza, using his pace, work with his engineer and the car’s electronic tools to move through the field. The excursion damaged the floor of his Alpine, but it did not stop his advance.

Colapinto passed Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. After overtaking Bortoleto on lap 29, he moved into 10th and began chasing Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls. Tsunoda fell behind on lap 41, leaving Arvid Lindblad ahead of Colapinto in eighth.

Alpine engineer Stuart Barlow encouraged him over the radio: "You’re up to 6/10 faster than Lindblad, let’s go!" Colapinto kept pushing during the final 20 laps and matched the pace of his teammate, Pierre Gasly, who finished seventh after starting from pole before the race was interrupted by a red flag following Charles Leclerc’s crash.

Lindblad held on with the same hard tires as Colapinto and finished less than three seconds ahead. Colapinto ended ninth, but his post-race interview showed little satisfaction. His lowered head and tears reflected his frustration that the earlier mistake had cost him a possible eighth-place finish.

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You’re up to 6/10 faster than Lindblad, let’s go!