Colapinto demoted from eighth to 10th after yellow flag penalty at Barcelona GP

Franco Colapinto lost his eighth-place finish at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday after FIA stewards issued the Alpine driver a 10-second post-race time penalty for a yellow flag breach, dropping him to 10th in the final classification.

The incident occurred on lap 40 when Fernando Alonso pulled his Aston Martin to a halt at Turn 9 with a suspected battery issue. Stewards investigated whether Colapinto had adequately reduced speed under the local yellow flag before the situation was upgraded to a virtual safety car. They concluded that while the Argentine did slow slightly, the reduction was not sufficient to comply with the regulations.

“The stewards determine that the driver of Car 43 slightly reduced speed before entering the single yellow flag zone, but did not discernibly reduce speed in the relevant yellow flag sector,” the stewards’ statement read. “The stewards acknowledge that the driver reacted to the yellow flag but do not consider the reaction to be sufficient to comply with the regulations. Therefore, a penalty on the lower end of the applicable scale of penalties is imposed.”

The 10-second penalty drops Colapinto behind Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. He was also handed a penalty point on his super licence, bringing his total to two over the past 12 months.

The result is a frustrating end to what had otherwise been a promising afternoon for Colapinto and Alpine. The Enstone squad had struggled for pace throughout the Barcelona weekend, yet both drivers delivered a stronger showing in race conditions. Colapinto had finished eighth on the road, just behind team-mate Pierre Gasly, suggesting the car performed better on a full fuel load than it had in qualifying trim.

Speaking before the penalty was confirmed, Colapinto was upbeat about the team’s performance. “It’s been a very good race, very solid. As a team we showed that we were really strong and that we turned around a tricky result,” he said. “With a full tank we showed that we were better. We keep working and keep trying to get better for the next few races, seeing that the car is not feeling good and we have a lot of things to improve and to understand.”