Franco Colapinto Mexico Grand Prix penalty, Digi Mart USA News: Argentine driver Franco Colapinto went from one of the weekend’s big winners to one of its big losers after a post-race penalty. The Mexican Grand Prix left plenty of winners and losers, and for Colapinto everything changed in an instant.
Alpine had been on course for a solid result that met its goals for the Mexican round, and the team, led by Flavio Briatore, had scored points with both of its cars. The team had hoped to celebrate a race that would help sustain its hopes of battling Racing Bulls in the midfield of the Formula 1 grid.
However, when the race ended, stewards found both Alpine drivers responsible for a maneuver under yellow flags and handed them time penalties that dropped them in the final classification. In a single moment, Alpine went from one of Mexico’s biggest winners to one of the teams that lost the most ground.
Ferrari also lost out in Mexico. The Italian team again showed fierce internal rivalry between its drivers, and the lack of a clear coordination strategy was exposed after a collision that left Lewis Hamilton delayed and a penalty for Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton spoke after the race, and during the red-flag neutralization he appeared visibly frustrated. “The guy is 28 years old, so I don’t think it’s a question of age.
I think it’s a question of mentality. It’s like, ‘All or nothing.
Either I win or none of us wins,’ and it shouldn’t be like that. It should be that we achieve that one-two,” Hamilton said, referring to Leclerc.
Max Verstappen was among the winners. He won the race with a Red Bull capable of taking him to victory, and he took advantage of Ferrari’s shortcomings.
Verstappen benefited from Hadjar being sidelined by contact with Piastri. Verstappen appears to stand alone in the final stretch of the season.
McLaren, the reigning world champion team, still has questions to answer. It could not establish itself in a clear, head-to-head fight for victory.
Lando Norris was unsuccessful and fell well short of the level that made him champion. Oscar Piastri has yet to find his form this season.
He was responsible for a collision with Hadjar that earned him a heavy penalty at the end of the race, after he had finished seventh.
The big winner overall was Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian clinched the world championship as the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to win the title.
He returned a world champion to Italy after 73 years and confirmed that Toto Wolff’s bet on him was justified, despite the strong criticism Wolff faced a year earlier when he confirmed the young driver to replace Lewis Hamilton. Wolff had spotted Antonelli when he was a world karting champion, and this Sunday Antonelli won the title, silencing many critics.
