Colapinto Crashes in Pirelli Test in Hungary: End of His Era at Alpine?

Franco Colapinto Suffers Accident in Pirelli Tests at Hungaroring

Alpine driver Franco Colapinto suffered an accident during Pirelli tire tests at the Hungaroring circuit this Wednesday. The incident occurred at turn 11 of the circuit. After the accident, Colapinto was taken to the circuit’s medical center. 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 stated in a statement.

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.

Colapinto’s accident occurred after a weekend of racing on the same circuit, where he outperformed in qualifying and finished ahead of Gasly. The 11th corner is a high-speed right-hand turn. Alpine did not offer details about the causes of the accident. The two-day tests at Hungaroring aim to evaluate the 2026 Pirelli tires, which are slightly narrower than the current ones and are part of a major regulation update for next season.

• “I’m useless”: Hamilton spiraling in his disastrous debut year with Ferrari
• Enrico Cardile starts at Aston Martin after dispute with Ferrari
• Gabriel Bortoleto, the “best rookie of his generation” according to Alonso

The Alpine team was on track for both days, with Aron at the wheel on Tuesday for Pirelli’s tests and Colapinto and Gasly scheduled to share on Wednesday. Tire tests are being carried out with this year’s car, while Alpine also had a 2023 car 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 its SF-25 from this year, designed to replicate the performance of a 2026 car in corners and on straights. The aim of the test is to conduct a final evaluation of 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 shame that we lost some of our potential mileage today when Colapinto went off track, although this was in no way related to the tires,” he said.

Mario Isola

“Regarding construction, we have verified our final solutions with respect to homologation, in view of the regulations that will come into force on September 1st. On the other hand, 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.”