Alpine resumed action on the third day of the preseason shakedown of Formula 1 in Barcelona, and one of the main focuses was on Franco Colapinto. The Argentine driver was in charge of driving the A526 during the morning session, on a day that had more activity than the previous ones despite taking place, as usual, behind closed doors.
The native of Pilar completed 58 laps (270 kilometers [168 miles]) of the Catalan circuit and set a personal best time of 1:19.150, in work that was focused more on adaptation and data collection than on the pursuit of pure performance. In the afternoon, the car was handed over to his teammate Pierre Gasly, who added another 67 laps (312 kilometers [194 miles]) and ended his day with a best lap of 1:20.413.
Colapinto's performance placed him among the most outstanding of the day, since he finished fourth out of eight drivers who took to the track. This performance, added to that of the first day, when he finished third, reflects a positive balance for the Buenos Aires native, who would only reappear for the Bahrain tests, the first from February 11 to 13 and the second from 18 to 20 of the same month. Gasly would take full charge of the last day that the French team has available in Catalonia (Ed.: the teams have a maximum of three days of testing).
Beyond Alpine's great work, the day was marked by the solid performance of Mercedes. The W17 was the most consistent single-seater of the day and completed a total of 183 laps, with George Russell (92 laps) running in the morning and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (91 laps) in the afternoon. The young Italian set the best time of the week so far, with an unofficial mark of 1:17.382 using soft tires, while his teammate finished just behind with a 1:17.580.
