Franco Colapinto finishes eighth, penalized to tenth at Barcelona GP

Alpine rookie Franco Colapinto qualified 13th for the Barcelona Grand Prix and, after a strategic race, crossed the line in eighth place, earning four championship points for the Argentine driver and his team. He later said the race was positive despite a brief radio dispute over team orders. Post‑race, FIA stewards imposed a ten‑second time penalty for insufficient slowing under a single yellow‑flag sector, demoting Colapinto to tenth, removing three points from his tally and adding a penalty point to his super‑licence. The penalty also promoted Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad to eighth and ninth. Team‑mate Pierre Gasly finished seventh, while Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory with Ferrari. Colapinto criticised Alpine’s car balance and tire degradation during the weekend, describing the Alpine A526 as “slow” and “hard to handle”, but remained optimistic about future races.