Franco Colapinto gets a warning after impeding Max Verstappen during Free Practice

Practice incident at 130R draws stewards' attention

Franco Colapinto has been handed an official warning by the Japanese Grand Prix stewards following an incident with Max Verstappen during second practice at Suzuka.

Colapinto was subsequently cited for driving erratically and later for "allegedly impeding" the Red Bull driver.

What the stewards found

"Car 43 was weaving across the track, warming tyres on the straight between turns 14 and 15 when car 3 approached at high speed."

Team radio confirmed that Colapinto had received progressive warnings from his team that Verstappen — identified as car 3 — was behind and closing quickly.

"When car 3 arrived, car 43 stopped weaving but remained on the racing line and then accelerated but the closing speed of the two cars was such that the driver of car 3 had to abandon his push lap."

Colapinto openly acknowledged his role in the incident.

"The driver of car 43 candidly acknowledged that he had impeded Car 3. He said that he had misjudged the closing speed and accelerated to attempt to prevent the impeding but had insufficient energy to do so."

Verstappen, for his part, explained that he had anticipated Colapinto would move aside.

"The driver of car 3 said that he expected car 43 to move to the left and when he saw that wasn’t happening, he abandoned his lap."

Penalty decision

After reviewing the evidence, the stewards concluded that Colapinto had unnecessarily impeded Verstappen. As is customary for such infringements during a free practice session, the penalty imposed was a warning.

The decision closes the matter from a regulatory standpoint, but the incident added a tense moment to Friday’s running at Suzuka — particularly given the speed differential involved on one of Formula 1’s most demanding stretches of circuit.