COLAPINTO HAS A FIVE-PLACE GRID PENALTY CONFIRMED FOR BAHRAIN GP
Franco Colapinto will receive a five-place grid penalty at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The penalty comes from the incident involving Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
The incident happened on the first Safety Car restart on Lap 36. Colapinto locked his brakes while approaching Turn 1 and went too deep into the corner, making contact with his Alpine teammate Gasly. Gasly was then pushed into McLaren driver Norris, with all three cars eventually retiring from the race.
The stewards judged that Colapinto was “wholly or predominantly to blame” for the collision. They initially gave him a 10-second time penalty, which could not be served because the Argentine driver also retired from the race.
Under the FIA regulations, the unserved time penalty was therefore converted into a five-place grid drop for Colapinto’s next race. This means he will start five positions lower than his qualifying position at Sepang.
Colapinto will still be able to take part normally in qualifying. His final starting position will depend on where he qualifies and whether any other grid penalties are applied before the race.
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