Franco Colapinto Suffers Accident in Pirelli Tests at Hungaroring
Alpine driver Franco Colapinto suffered an accident during a Pirelli tire test at the Hungaroring circuit on Wednesday.
The incident occurred at turn 11 of the circuit. After the accident, Colapinto was taken to the circuit’s medical center, where he was evaluated.
Alpine confirmed in a statement that the Argentinian driver was “fine”.
During the second day of Pirelli tire testing at Hungaroring this morning, Franco Colapinto had an incident at Turn 11. Franco was evaluated at the medical center and is fine.
Alpine
Colapinto, loaned to Alpine by Williams, replaced Jack Doohan earlier this year, but has struggled to achieve consistent results alongside teammate Pierre Gasly, failing to score points.Franco Colapinto ha tenido dificultades en su tiempo en Alpine.Speculation about a possible rotation and replacement of Colapinto has been constant. It has been rumored that he could be replaced by Doohan, reserve driver Paul Aron, or even Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, before the end of this season.
Colapinto’s accident at the Hungaroring occurred after a race weekend at the same circuit, where he outperformed Gasly in qualifying and finished ahead of him.
The 11th turn is a high-speed right-hand turn, which doesn’t have much of an escape zone.
Alpine did not offer details on how the accident occurred.
Colapinto was selected by Alpine after his nine races with Williams in the second half of the 2024 season, in which he scored five points.
The two-day test at the Hungaroring is taking place to evaluate the 2026 Pirelli tires, which are slightly narrower than the current ones and are part of a broader review of the regulations for next season.
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Alpine was on track for both days, with Aron at the wheel on Tuesday for the Pirelli test and Colapinto and Gasly scheduled to share on Wednesday. The tire tests are being carried out with this year’s car, while Alpine also had a 2023 car present at the test for Colapinto and Gasly.
After McLaren and Racing Bulls participated in Tuesday’s tests, Ferrari was on track on Wednesday with a modified version of this year’s SF-25, designed to replicate the performance of a 2026 car in corners and on straights.
The test aims to conduct a final evaluation on the construction of the tires for 2026, which must be approved and homologated before September 1st.
Work on the compounds for next season will continue for six more days of testing at the end of the year before they are approved on December 15.
Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport boss, said they obtained a lot of data from the session despite Colapinto’s accident.
We have collected a lot of data, although it was a pity that we lost some of our potential mileage today when Colapinto went off track, although this was in no way related to the tires. As for the construction, we have verified our final solutions with regard to homologation, before the entry into force of the regulations on September 1st. On the contrary, we now have three more test sessions, in Monza, Mugello and Mexico City, to conclude the development of the compounds, whose homologation is scheduled for December 15th.
