Franco Colapinto will face the Austria Grand Prix this weekend with renewed expectations. After a Barcelona Grand Prix that left more doubts than certainties despite the positive result for Alpine (10th), the Argentine driver assured that the team worked hard to correct the identified problems and confirmed that they will bring updates to the A526 in search of a performance boost.
The Spielberg circuit does not appear to be one of the most favorable venues for the French team, at least based on recent history. However, Colapinto believes that the improvements introduced could help reduce some of the weaknesses that the car has been dragging since the beginning of the season. "I think this circuit in general hasn't favored us much in recent years, but we are bringing some improvements, some things that could help", he explained during the press day before the start of the activities.
The Buenos Aires native revealed that one of the team's priorities was to understand what happened in the last race at the Catalan circuit, where the performance was far from expected, especially in qualifying. "I think that simply that particular circuit, due to the surface and the heat, didn't really suit our car, especially in qualifying, where we weren't competitive and the car wasn't functioning within a good window", he added.
One of the most marked weaknesses of Alpine so far this year has been the behavior in fast corners. When asked about this aspect, Colapinto acknowledged that it remains a pending issue, although he believes that the technical updates could offer an improvement.
"We are still working on it. I think it's not exactly the area where we feel strongest, high speed. We have had difficulties since the beginning of the year. This weekend we are bringing an improvement that should help us in that regard and we have been working hard to try to improve. But, of course, until you see it on track, it's hard to say", he commented.
Nonetheless, the native of Pilar clarified that the issues observed in Spanish soil were broader than just an aerodynamic problem. "Barcelona remained a bit complicated, to be honest. I didn't feel comfortable with the car in the fast corners. But, overall, everything was quite disconnected, so it wasn't just a high-speed balance problem. I think the tires weren't working well. The setup wasn't ideal. I think we were missing some things and I hope we can do better from now on and take much more advantage of the package's potential".
In that sense, Colapinto emphasized that the team needs to find answers to improve their Saturday performance, as the race has been more encouraging: "It is true that lately in the races we have looked much stronger, so we need to understand why we are lacking something in qualifying".
"There is a lot of work ahead, another long weekend, three sessions to understand the car, learn a little more about the setup along with the engineers. So I hope we have made some steps forward, which is what we were looking for after Barcelona. I hope we can score some more points", he concluded.
When Colapinto returns to racing
After returning to points in Barcelona, the Argentine begins his two-week preparation for his next challenge: the Austria Grand Prix. Action at the Red Bull Ring will begin on Friday, June 26 with the first free practice session and will conclude on Sunday, June 28 with the main race. In the last season, the native of Pilar finished 15th at this circuit.
