Bad news for Colapinto: the FIA penalized him after the Mexican GP and he is out of the points zone

The race of Franco Colapinto in the Mexican Grand Prix had meant a significant relief after a series of adverse results. The Argentine initially finished eighth and a subsequent penalty to Oscar Piastri for a collision with Arvid Lindblad allowed him to move up one position and place seventh. However, the investigations following the race changed the scenario again: the International Automobile Federation (FIA) decided to penalize the Argentine driver with 10 seconds for an infraction under yellow flag, dropping him to 15th place.

The decision was communicated by the race stewards after analyzing the report from the race director, hearing explanations from Colapinto and the team representative, and reviewing various pieces of evidence, including onboard camera footage, telemetry, timing records, and radio communications from Alpine. According to the official document, the driver from Pilar went through a sector under a single yellow flag without reducing speed as required by the regulations, violating article B1.8.4a of the FIA Regulations.

During the hearing, both Colapinto and Alpine presented telemetry information and photographic evidence with which they attempted to demonstrate that the Argentine had complied with regulatory obligations: reducing speed and being prepared to alter his trajectory in the event of a dangerous situation.

However, the stewards deemed that the evidence was insufficient to prove that the driver had adequately decelerated during the indicated sector. For that reason, they decided to add 10 seconds to his final race time, dropping him from seventh to fifteenth, and applying one penalty point to his superlicense, bringing his total to five in the last 12 months. It is worth noting that a driver receives a race suspension when they reach 12 points in that period.

On the other hand, the resolution also established that there were not enough elements to determine an infraction in the previous sector, which was marked with a double yellow flag. In that case, the stewards understood that there were doubts about whether Colapinto had received the corresponding warning with the necessary advance to comply with the requirements.

Pierre Gasly was also penalized

The day did not end without consequences for the other Alpine driver. Pierre Gasly received a stop and go (30 seconds) penalty after the race for not sufficiently reducing speed in a sector marked with a double yellow flag, an infraction covered in article B1.8.4b of the FIA Regulations.

Just like in Colapinto's case, the stewards analyzed the telemetry, onboard images, and records from other competitors who went through the same sector. The Frenchman and the team representative argued that he had significantly reduced speed, but the officials determined that this deceleration had not been sufficient to comply with the regulations.

As a result, Gasly received the stop and go penalty applied that relegated him to the 17th place and two points on his superlicense, bringing his total to that same amount in the last 12 months.

With these two penalties confirmed for their drivers, Alpine not only failed to score points in Mexican territory, but also saw their direct rival for fifth place in the constructors' championship, Racing Bulls, gain even more advantage thanks to Liam Lawson's seventh place. The New Zealander directly benefited from the penalties of Piastri and Colapinto and moved from ninth to seventh place, thus adding 6 points and extending his team's lead over the French team to 39 points (108 to 69).

The final classification after the penalties to Piastri, Colapinto, and Gasly

1st - Max Verstappen (Red Bull) | +25

2nd - Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) | +18

3rd - Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) | +15

4th - Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) | +12

5th - Lando Norris (McLaren) | +10

6th - George Russell (Mercedes) | +8

7th - Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) | +6

8th - Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) | +4

9th - Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) | +2

10th - Ryō Hirakawa (Haas) | +1

11th - Alex Albon (Williams) | +0

12th - Carlos Sainz (Williams) | +0

13th - Oscar Piastri (McLaren) | +0

14th - Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) | +0

15th - FRANCO COLAPINTO (Alpine) | +0

16th - Sergio Pérez (Cadillac)| +0

17th - PIERRE GASLY (Alpine) | +0

18th - Arvid Linblad (Racing Bulls) | DNF

19th - Oliver Bearman (Haas) | DNF

20th - Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) | DNF

21st - Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) | DNF

22nd - Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) | DNF

Drivers' Standings after Mexico

1st - Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 380 points [CHAMPION]

2nd - Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 261 points