Alpine director Steven Nielsen says the team is “disappointed” in Franco Colapinto after he ignored a team order not to overtake Pierre Gasly late in the United States Grand Prix.
The two Alpine drivers came under pressure from Gabriel Bortoleto in the closing stages of the race – with the trio battling for 17th place – as the team instructed Colapinto to maintain position behind Gasly. Colapinto questioned the call at the time and rightly overtook his teammate at Turn 1, with Gasly soon falling behind the Sauber and finishing last on the road.
“On Pierre’s side we covered an undercut threat a little earlier than we wanted when boxing on soft tyres, and then had a slow pit stop, which we will look at and correct,” said Nielsen. “Franco was able to extend his medium run and suffered a tire delta towards the end of the race, where he overtook Pierre.
“We instructed the drivers to hold their positions as we had to manage the fuel with both cars and the added variable of the number of laps remaining with the leaders close. As a team, every instruction at the pit wall is final and today we are disappointed that this did not happen, so it is something we will review and deal with internally.”
Colapinto defended his decision to overtake Gasly, saying he thought both cars would be overtaken without his action.
“I think it was just a tough day for both of us, a tough weekend in general,” Colapinto said. “We struggled, I think we learned something after a tough weekend, hopefully we can be stronger in Mexico.
“But of course we have to keep working as a team, it was a tough day. I think I had a bit more speed than Pierre in the last stint, and Bortoleto was very close, he attacked very hard, and he was much faster than us, and I just couldn’t really keep him behind me with how slow Pierre was going, so I think it was best for the situation to have me at the front and try not to get both cars behind Gabby.
“I’m motivated, we know the car is difficult to drive and it’s very difficult at the moment. We changed positions a lot this year and they also let us race on other circuits. I think here, given the situation I was in, and I was attacked very heavily by Bortoleto, it was probably best to have me at the front, otherwise we would both be overtaken.”
“We just have to analyze and come up with all the data and analyze every moment of the race, but we will come back stronger for Mexico.
“Don’t know [if the call was a surprise]. I think we are trying very hard to be strong next year, and we are analyzing every situation and trying to get better at it. It is these moments that are so important on a weekend. Even if it’s not about the points, we try to make the best decision possible every time.”
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