Colapinto handed five-place grid drop after Baku restart pile-up eliminates Gasly and Norris

Franco Colapinto has been handed a five-place grid penalty for the Malaysian Grand Prix after stewards found him wholly responsible for a multi-car pile-up at the restart of Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

The incident unfolded when Colapinto locked up heavily on the inside approaching Turn 1 following a mid-race safety car period triggered by Alexander Albon’s retirement. The Alpine driver careened into Pierre Gasly’s car, which was then punted into Lando Norris’ McLaren. Both Gasly and Norris were forced to retire on the spot.

Because Colapinto himself did not finish the race, stewards converted the standard 10-second time penalty into the grid drop for Sepang, in line with FIA regulations. The stewards’ report was unambiguous: “The Stewards considered that COL was wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision. Although the incident occurred at the first corner following the restart, there was no contribution from another driver which would justify applying the first-lap/first-corner more lenient approach.”

Norris, visibly furious in the immediate aftermath, called for Colapinto to receive a race ban — though he later acknowledged he had not yet seen a replay of the incident when he made that demand. The stewards did not go that far, citing the standard penalty framework.

Elsewhere in the stewards’ findings, Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad was cleared of any wrongdoing after he spun team-mate Liam Lawson at the same restart. The stewards determined that Lindblad’s contact with Lawson was a direct consequence of the chain reaction set off by Colapinto’s lock-up, leaving him with restricted space and no viable escape route.

“That incident, together with COL locking his brakes, triggered a braking reaction among the cars immediately ahead of LIN,” the report read. “The Stewards determined that the contact was primarily the result of the restricted space available to LIN and the chain reaction caused” by the original collision.

Colapinto, who joined Alpine ahead of the 2025 season, now carries the grid penalty into a Malaysian Grand Prix that could prove pivotal for the midfield standings. The five-place drop will be applied regardless of his qualifying position at Sepang.