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Franco Colapinto has criticised the FIA stewards after a yellow-flag infringement at the start of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix effectively ended his hopes of scoring points.
The Alpine driver was overtaking Yuki Tsunoda when Max Verstappen crashed a few metres ahead, triggering yellow flags before the race was stopped by a red flag. Colapinto was unable to avoid completing the pass and was handed a drive-through penalty. Arvid Lindblad received the same sanction for a similar move on Pierre Gasly.
The incident followed Verstappen’s race-ending crash at Zandvoort, which shaped the opening phase of a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix.
Colapinto had made a strong start and moved into the points-paying positions, but the penalty removed that opportunity. Speaking after the race, he argued that the circumstances made the decision particularly difficult to judge.
“It was the drive-through that compromised the whole of our race. I made a very good start and I was up there in the points,” Colapinto told Motorsport.com.
He said the yellow flag appeared very late, while the track remained wet and damp and cars were dealing with debris after the crash. In his view, braking sharply in the middle of the straight and on the banking could have created a greater risk than completing the overtake.
“I saw a very, very late yellow flag when I was finishing my overtake, and it was clearly much more dangerous to slam on the brakes and accelerate in the middle of the straight, on the banking and on the wet, when everyone was spinning,” he said.
Colapinto accepted that the rules were written, but called for officials to consider the safest response in rapidly changing conditions rather than apply the regulations without flexibility.
“I feel they have been extremely harsh. I mean, it’s their job, but it’s also their job to be a bit flexible and understand the situation,” he said.
The Argentine later received a second penalty: a 10-second sanction for another infringement during a yellow-flag period. Three additional penalty points took his total to four. He ultimately finished 14th, driving an older version of Alpine’s car after the team fitted its latest A526 upgrades to Gasly’s machine.
The criticism extended beyond the driver. Sean Summers, Mercado Libre’s chief marketing officer, described the stewards’ decisions as damaging to the integrity of Formula 1 in a post on X. Mercado Libre has supported Colapinto since he began racing for Williams at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix and continued that backing after his move to Alpine.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.