Franco Colapinto made his Formula 2 debut on Saturday. The rider from Pilar placed in twentieth place during qualifying for the Sprint race. During the 23 laps at the Yas Marina circuit, he maintained his starting position, but climbed to 19th place due to a penalty imposed on Arthur Leclerc (brother of Ferrari driver Charles) at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Also present was Kun Sergio Agüero, who walked around the pits wearing a special flame retardant jumpsuit with the colors and logo of Manchester City, and received a fun proposal from Colapinto.
With his MP Motorsport Dallara, Colapinto accumulated valuable experience in this first competition, anticipating his participation in the next season. He managed to improve his position, finishing in 19th place after overcoming a few crashes and crossover cars. The race win went to Denmark's Frederick Vesti, which strained the championship fight with current leader Theo Purchaire of France finishing seventh.
Colapinto demonstrated an error-free adaptation on the track, positively highlighting his performance in the category. His two best laps were the last two, setting 1m40s757/100 and 1m40s654/100, allowing him to overtake Arthur Leclerc in qualifying.
Sergio Agüero showed enthusiasm for motorsport. Captured by photographers, his presence at the event was highlighted on social networks, surprising the reaction of Colapinto, who humorously proposed: "Do you want me to teach you how to drive?", accompanying the comment with a smile and two Argentine flags.
Do you want me to teach you how to drive @aguerosergiokun ? 😜🇦🇷🇦🇷
— Franco Colapinto (@FranColapinto) November 25, 2023
The final of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will take place this Sunday at 6:15 (Argentine time), giving Colapinto another opportunity to gain confidence with his new car after his season in Formula 3 this year.
Max Verstappen took pole
Verstappen in a class of his own yet again #F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/a7yT0MrPOb
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25, 2023
At the end of the day at Yas Marina, Agüero had the honour of handing over the tyre to the poleman of the Formula 1 qualifying, who happened to be the Dutchman Max Verstappen. The two greeted each other, exchanged words, signed the tire as usual and posed for photos.
The Dutchman (Red Bull) took the twelfth pole of his spectacular 2023, a year in which he started first in Bahrain and will end up starting from that same position in the last of the campaign. Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was second and Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) third.
Behind, the British George Russell (Mercedes) will be fourth, the British Lando Norris (McLaren) fifth and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), sixth, after a qualifying with a clear reference.
Mad Max, a three-time world champion, led all three rounds of qualifying, in which he was as dominant in Formula 1 as he was throughout 2023, winning 18 of the 21 races of the season.
The Dutchman set his fastest time with more than five minutes to go in the session and when all the drivers thought they had a chance to beat that record.