Franco Colapinto Suffers Accident in Pirelli Test at Hungaroring
Alpine driver Franco Colapinto suffered an accident during a Pirelli tire test at the Hungaroring circuit on Wednesday.
Colapinto was attended to at the circuit’s medical center after the incident. Alpine confirmed in a statement that the Argentinian driver was “fine”.
“During the second day of Pirelli tire testing at the Hungaroring this morning, Franco Colapinto had an incident at Turn 11,” Alpine stated. “Franco was evaluated at the medical center and is fine.”
Alpine Statement
Colapinto, loaned to Alpine by Williams, replaced Jack Doohan earlier this year, but has struggled to achieve results alongside teammate Pierre Gasly and has failed to score points.Franco Colapinto has struggled in his time at Alpine.Speculation has been intense about the possibility of him being removed from the seat and 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 in which he outperformed in qualifying and finished ahead of Gasly.
The 11th turn is a high-speed right-hand turn (142 mph) with not much escape beyond the exit curb. Alpine did not offer details on how the accident occurred.
Colapinto was chosen 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 Hungaroring is taking place to evaluate the 2026 Pirelli tires, which are slightly narrower than the current ones and are part of a much broader regulation overhaul 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. Tire tests were 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 is 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 objective of the test is 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.
Pirelli Motorsport boss Mario Isola 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 not related to the tires,” said Isola.
