the challenge of the commissioners, the anger of Sainz and Ferrari and the blow that he avoided with a mere blow of the wrist

After the very complicated weekend in rainy San Pablo, where he had two accidents that caused damage to his Williams, Franco Colapinto He jumped onto the asphalt of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix with a thirst for revenge. However, his car, rebuilt against the clock by the mechanics of the Grove team in recent weeks, did not respond to him and made him star in a series of situations that the Argentine would not have wanted to star in.

There were three scenes that stole the attention of the official broadcast of the Great Circus on the street circuit of Sin City. The first was after spending 20 minutes spinning and doing similar times to his teammate, Alex Albon. Once he entered the pit lane, he was warned with a black and white flag – a slight illegal maneuver that is not sanctioned – for stepping on the white line that delimits the access.

Beginner’s mistake? Yes and logical considering that I had never been to this circuit beyond the simulator tests. However, the Argentine was not the only one who had a bad time in that sector. Albon also passed there and George Russell, the British driver from Mercedes, also complained about how little the mark that forces him to slow down was visible.

Once he turned again, already with soft tires – he had started with the medium compound – Colapinto once again attracted attention with a maneuver that put him on the verge of an accident. The car, which was moving more than desired – he spoke of the lack of grip of the tires – was about to hit a wall. However, by force of wrist and reflexes, he adjusted the car and escaped receiving a challenge from James Vowles, the team leader.

The last “pearl” for Colapinto was the anger of the Spanish Carlos Sainz, who launched a fast lap with his Ferrari, found the Argentine going at a slower speed and causing the future Williams star driver to slow down. . The situation generated anger from the Madrid native and his Prancing Horse engineers. However, it was pure fever because in the end he achieved a better time than his teammate Charles Leclerc.

In the end, Colapinto came in 17th place in his Williams behind Alex Albon, who came 13th and was just over a second faster. The fastest in P1 was Lewis Hamilton, who set the clocks at 1m35s001. It was the Argentine’s first experience in Las Vegas.