Franco Colapinto hit with grid penalty on Alpine debut after pit lane blunder

Franco Colapinto has been hit with a one-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to a pit lane offence in qualifying.

Yuki Tsunoda’s scary rollover crash resulted in an early red flag in Q1 at Imola.

With repair work being done to the track, the FIA announced an “estimated start time”.

As teams prepared for the resumption of the session, a number of cars were waiting outside of their pit garages - but crucially - not in the ‘fast lane’.

Drivers are not allowed to wait at the end of the pit lane until the start time is officially announced.

However, due to a mis-communication with the Alpine pit wall, Colapinto left the designated area near the Alpine pit garage and was waiting at the end of the pit lane.

Alpine apologised for the confusion, but Colapinto is now under investigation.

Race control noted in Q1, Colapinto will be investigated after the session for “failing to follow race director’s instructions - entering the fast lane before resumption time announced”.

Colapinto is now set to start the race from 16th on the grid. 

The former Williams driver's qualifying ended early after he lost control of his car through the Tamburello chicane.

Mercedes penalised in Bahrain

Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were handed one-place grid penalties at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Following Esteban Ocon’s shunt in Q2, the two Mercedes drivers were the first to exit their garages and stop at the end of the pit lane.

Like Colapinto, this was done before a restart time was confirmed by race control.

The stewards agreed that Mercedes could have gained a “sporting advantage” because “it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.”

As a result, they felt a sporting penalty was justified.