Franco Colapinto was self-critical after his poor race in Belgium: 'We lacked pace.'

The Belgian Grand Prix once again left a bitter taste for Franco Colapinto, who finished 19th and can't get back on track in his season with Alpine.

The Argentine had started from 15th position (benefiting from several rivals starting from the pit lane) and managed to move up to 13th place. However, the team's late decisions in the pits and the car's poor performance caused him to drop back, finishing only ahead of Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls).

Colapinto's performance at Spa-Francorchamps was in line with what he had shown in previous days: lacking pace and competitiveness, both in Friday's only practice session and in Saturday's sprint race. Not even the star presence of the world champion coach, Lionel Scaloni, in the Belgian paddock was enough to inspire a better performance from the driver from Pilar.

After the race, which started an hour and twenty minutes late, Colapinto explained: "I think with the inters (tires) we stopped one or two laps too late and then, those two stops didn't help. After five laps on new tires, it started to feel like before, so I lost two or three positions because of the stop and couldn't recover them"

The Argentine also described the complications with grip and the car's behavior on slicks: "It was a tough race. The dirty air when I went out on slicks was difficult for me because the tires started to wear a lot. We tried to move forward, but at some point we were kind of stuck behind the cars in front"

"Also, we were much faster on the straights and slow in the corners, and you got stuck if you couldn't get past. With the slicks we lacked pace, sliding a lot," he added.

To conclude, Colapinto gave an honest assessment of his performance: "I think it was a positive race overall in terms of completing all the laps, but not positive at all regarding the pace. We have to keep working"

With this result, the Argentine adds another weekend without points and with few signs of improvement from Alpine. The next race, to be held in Hungary next Sunday, will be key in trying to reverse a trend that so far remains concerning.