Colapinto's retirement at Silverstone: What broke in the car?

Franco Colapinto turned the page despite his frustration at not being able to start the British Grand Prix of Formula 1 due to transmission failures in his Alpine A525. The Argentine driver, 22 years old, has the support of his team, which is a good sign amid reports of a supposed clutch failure.

Despite the rumors spread in recent hours, the French team and its executive advisor, Flavio Briatore, cleared the 22-year-old driver from Buenos Aires of responsibility in the statement released on Sunday after the competition at Silverstone and reaffirmed that it was a transmission problem in Franco's car that prevented him from competing in the British event, ruling out the reports suggesting a burnt clutch.

The driver from Pilar suffered the same issue as in Barcelona and as his current teammate, Pierre Gasly, in a previous edition of  Silverstone. With these precedents, it is worth clarifying that the transmission has been Alpine's Achilles' heel in recent years.

The French team's attitude aims to protect the Argentine driver, who experienced unimaginable frustration after not being able to start the British competition. It was a disappointment, since, as it was a race with changing conditions due to the wet track, perhaps Franco could have moved up in the pack.

Meanwhile, this was the first of six races with Alpine that the Argentine driver could not complete and the situation was completely beyond his control. In his previous five races he was unable to score points: 16th in Imola, 13th in Monaco, 15th in Spain, 13th in Canada and 15th in Austria.

Franco Colapinto and Alpine's next challenge will be at the Belgian Grand Prix at the historic Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. With a French team that will not have upgrades to its cars in the upcoming events, the Argentine driver will try to make his way and, perhaps, score his first points of the season.