Colapinto concedes ‘I’m not quite there yet’ as he assesses ‘difficult’ first race for Alpine

Franco Colapinto admitted he was "not quite there yet" after a challenging first weekend back in F1 with Alpine, finishing 16th in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix following a hefty Qualifying crash.

Although Alpine didn't score points, Colapinto gained vital experience. His build-up to the race was difficult after a heavy crash in Qualifying. In the race, inexperience showed early on as he lost places from P16 and had a trip through the gravel. He ran a long first stint but the timing of a Virtual Safety Car hurt his strategy.

Colapinto on his first race with Alpine: ‘Not the result we wanted by a lot of learnings’

"We had good pace at the start of the race compared to the others," Colapinto explained. "I made the C5 – the medium – last very long, so we were on a one-stop and that VSC came just a few laps after I made my stop. It kind of just put me in a very difficult situation with already eight laps on the tyres."

He added, "I think better tracks are coming for us, especially Monaco. It is a place which requires very high confidence. I’m not quite there yet, I’m still learning more and more each time I am in the car so I’ll build it up and I’m looking forward to it next weekend."

Colapinto did not race at Monaco in F1 last season, so it will be another new experience. However, he can take confidence from Gasly's one-lap pace, which is key in Monte Carlo.

'I battled hard… too hard' – Gasly talks us through his fight with Leclerc at Imola

Gasly's Qualifying was strong (top-10 start), but a moment battling Charles Leclerc at the start of the race saw him go off track and drop down the order.

"First of all not happy with my race as I made that mistake which should not really happen," Gasly said. "I battled hard, I tried too hard... unfortunately when I turned in, I had no grip and couldn’t make the corner."

This dropped him positions, and a two-stop strategy was attempted but not helped by the timing of a late Safety Car (likely referring to the VSC period, not a full SC).

Gasly also noted the car had "good pace" over one lap and looked ahead to Monaco, where qualifying is crucial.