Franco Colapinto made a surprise promotion to Formula One and got his first taste of qualifying on the big stage at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday.
It was an afternoon of mixed emotions for the young driver, who enjoyed the excitement of F1 qualifying but also the frustration of being eliminated in Q1. Colapinto made a small mistake during his final push lap of the first segment, costing him his chance of progressing.
“It was a special experience to do my first qualifying session in F1 and I'm enjoying every moment of this weekend so far,” Colapinto said in Williams' post-practice report. “Unfortunately I made a small mistake on my second push and missed the opportunity to get a good second lap. I was in a good position after the first lap so I was pushing myself to go further on my second push so that gave me hope. The car is very competitive and I think we can make it into Q2 today.”
Colapinto looked for a silver lining after qualifying, pointing to the FW46's “potential” at Monza this weekend.
“But this is just the beginning and I still have a lot to work on as I've only done a few laps in an F1 car. Right now I'm a bit frustrated, but I know there is great potential and the team is working hard to make the car suit me better,” Colapinto continued. “Tomorrow will be a great opportunity to learn more about the car and the tyres as well as to manage a full race distance in F1. Let's see how it goes.”
Meanwhile, at the other end of the garage, Alexander Albon was one of the afternoon's winners, making it into Q3 for the fifth time this season. Albon finished ninth on Saturday, giving him and Williams a good chance of taking home some points from Monza.
“Ninth place is great so I'm very happy,” Albon said. “It was the best I've been out of the rest so far this weekend and I was hoping to get there but I didn't really expect to get this far so it's good. When the car is going well in practice it puts a bit more pressure on you to do well in qualifying but it was worth it. It's a totally different track to Zandvoort and the upgrades are great but I know this track suits the car. But I also know that without the upgrades I wouldn't have made Q3 so this is a good takeaway.”
Albon noted his biggest rival on Sunday may be Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, who will join him in Q3 and start from P10.
“We were battling with Haas throughout qualifying but it looks like they have a bit more race pace tomorrow,” Albon continued. “Graining is the biggest concern but we'll see how it goes.”
