Here's the thing: Saturday in Baku was tracking towards a genuinely brilliant afternoon for the Enstone-based squad. Up until the chaos hit, Pierre Gasly was sitting pretty in seventh place while Franco Colapinto was scrapping hard for P9 with Lando Norris, who had just dropped positions due to a lock-up. Double points were right there for the taking, and the team looked set to slash the nine-point gap to Racing Bulls for fifth in the constructors' standings. Instead, everything fell apart in a heartbeat.
The unraveling started when a Safety Car was deployed following Alex Albon's crash. At the restart, Colapinto simply arrived at Turn 1 with too much speed, locked up his brakes, and speared directly into the side of Gasly's car. The knock-on effect was brutal, with Gasly getting bounced into Norris. Gasly and Norris parked their machines immediately, while the Argentine racer dragged his wounded car back to the pits, though the damage was far too severe to fix. A guaranteed double points finish turned straight into a stinging double DNF, and Racing Bulls actually extended their advantage by six points thanks to Arvid Lindblad finishing seventh.
I’m obviously very disappointed for all the guys, P7 and P10 was a very good race, good pace. Honestly, I have no idea how to answer your question. [We’ve] got to move on.
Lando Norris was left absolutely fuming by the carnage, offering a blunt assessment in the aftermath. "At the end of the day, I just got taken out… just some drivers that shouldn’t be in F1, to be honest," the reigning World Champion said.
Colapinto didn't hide from his mistake, immediately jumping on the radio to apologize before repeating the sentiment to the team and to Gasly. "Just a big sorry to all of them, to the factory, to Pierre of course," Colapinto said in the Baku media pen. "[I] took him out, so really disappointed. We were both in a position to score points, was a big day for the team and [I] did a big mistake. Big sorry, it shouldn't happen.”
Naturally, Flavio Briatore was left deeply frustrated by the whole episode. "Obviously I'm extremely disappointed with the outcome of today's race, knowing we lost valuable points in the Championship fight," said Alpine's Executive Advisor. He added that the crash was a "very poor move for a driver of his experience," noting that Colapinto braked far too late given the context of the restart.
Briatore confirmed he will take time to "consider what course of action should be taken" to prevent a repeat of the disaster. To compound a miserable weekend, Colapinto couldn't serve his 10-second in-race penalty due to his retirement, meaning it was converted into a five-place grid drop for next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Gasly, meanwhile, kept his cards close to his chest when facing reporters. “I don’t think I really have words and I don’t need the words now. We’ll manage it together as a team," Gasly said. "I’m obviously very disappointed for all the guys, P7 and P10 was a very good race, good pace. Honestly, I have no idea how to answer your question. [We’ve] got to move on.”
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