Franco Colapinto
is the great promise of
Argentine motorsports
and shows his talent, date after date, in
Formula 2
, the opening category of the sought-after
Formula 1
.
The boy who belongs to the
Williams Academy
, had rounded off a phenomenal weekend at the Australian Grand Prix.
He had finished fourth in the
Sprint Race
, his best performance of the season, and later came seventh in the
Feature Race
after finishing last and staging
a furious comeback
.
However, his smiles faded when
the sports stewards decided to disqualify him and leave him empty-handed.
What happened?
Colapinto, after his great performance in the Sprint, had started from 13th place on the grid in the main event.
However, he had problems again at the start and was sent to the back of the pack.
He watched the fight for the top spots from afar until his teammate,
Dennis Hauger
, crashed into a retaining wall when he was the leader and forced the safety car to enter.
This circumstance allowed the Argentine to close the gap and, after a stop in the pits,
get the best performance out of his car.
One by one he left rivals until he reached the checkered flag in seventh place.
It had been a career for the MP Motorsports team driver.
Pilar's boy, beyond the great ending, had not been entirely happy
.
“It was a good end to the race.
It's a shame that we continue to have problems with the starts, as no one has.
Now we have some tests to work on that and on the qualys, which are the two weakest aspects.
Afterwards in the races we are very strong,” Colapinto analyzed just after the competition.
All about the points!
🔢#AusGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/VtOuNhtB9S
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 24, 2024
But he still didn't know that the worst was yet to come.
The sports stewards decided hours later to disqualify him because
"he did not activate the set-up procedure at the start of Race 2."
According to the judges, Colapinto committed a "breach of Article 1.5.2 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship Technical Regulations and Article 10.15 of the F2 2024 System User Manual."
The official statement of the category details the procedure that led the Argentine to
fall from tenth place to 14th position in the Drivers' Championship
with 13 units after the first three dates of the 2024 season.
"
The stewards received a report from the technical delegate (document 60). They summoned and listened to the driver and the team representative (document 61). During all formation lap starts and the race start, a defined activation of the set-up procedure"
, the explanation begins.
It continues:
"Data from car 12 shows that the driver activated the start set-up procedure for the formation lap. However, the driver of car 12 did not press both buttons to activate the start set-up procedure for the start of the race. Having considered the matter at length, the Stewards determined that Car 12 breached Article 1.5.2 of the Technical Regulations and Article 10.15 of the F2 2024 System User Manual. Therefore, the stewards decided to disqualify car 12 from race 2 results (Feature Race)"
.
The report says "he did not press both buttons to initiate the start setup procedure for the race start."
It's a joke how they are going to disqualify him for this, when there were worse actions by other pilots and they did nothing.
pic.twitter.com/V0GO6c2xOe
— Colapinto News🇦🇷 (@Colapinto_news) March 24, 2024
And it closes:
"Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sports Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Regulations, within the applicable deadlines"
.
Colapinto did not express himself on his social networks.
Yes, MP Motorsports did, which regretted having ended the weekend empty-handed.
"Unfortunately, we had a difficult Sunday in Melbourne. Both Dennis (Hauger) and Franco showed good pace, but we ran out of points. Due to cold tires after the pit stop, Dennis lost the car and crashed into the barrier In turn 6"
, the post starts.
Unfortunately, we've had a tough Sunday in Melbourne.
Both Dennis and Franco showed good peace, but we left with no points.
Due to cold tires after the pit stop, Dennis lost the car and hit the barrier in turn 6. (1/2)#F2 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/qzLE9GUmjk
— MP Motorsport (@OfficialMPteam) March 24, 2024
And he closes:
"Franco moved up to seventh position, but was disqualified for not following the correct starting procedure. Hard lesson, but we win and lose together as a team. We learn from this and hope to be together stronger again in Imola.
"