Franco Colapinto crashed Alpine’s A525 Formula 1 car in a Pirelli test at the Hungaroring on Wednesday.
The Italian tyre supplier has been running regular tests, like this two-day session following the Hungarian Grand Prix, to prepare its 2026 F1 compounds. The new tyres are smaller and narrower as part of the world championship’s new technical rules.
Three 2025-spec cars were on track yesterday in Mogyorod – provided by Alpine, McLaren and Racing Bulls – with Alpine still in action today alongside Ferrari. Track time is usually spread among teams that volunteer to perform the tests.
However, Colapinto crashed this morning at the Turn 11 right-hander, one of the faster curves at this circuit. The Argentinian was uninjured but the Alpine was too damaged to return to the track.
“During Day 2 of Pirelli Tyre Testing at the Hungaroring this morning, Franco Colapinto had an incident at Turn 11. Franco was assessed on site at the medical centre and is OK,” an Alpine spokesperson has stated.
Mario Isola, head of Pirelli Motorsport, later added: "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 the track, even though this was not in any way linked to the tyres."
This is particularly bad news for Colapinto, who is yet to finish a grand prix inside the top 12 this season, while team-mate Pierre Gasly – who was also due to drive the Alpine today – has collected 13 points in the same period, to add to his seven points from the first six rounds when Jack Doohan was his team-mate.
Colapinto has been outqualified by Gasly 7-2 so far, having crashed twice in qualifying. His struggles are compounded by his contractual status as he is understood to remain on race-by-race deals, meaning he can be dropped by Alpine at any time.
