The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix might be Franco Colapinto’s last in Formula 1, as he currently lacks a contract as an official driver for next year, coupled with Red Bull‘s waning interest. However, the Yas Marina round has proven more challenging than anticipated.
In FP2, Franco Colapinto went wide at the exit of Turn 9 while completing a relatively competitive lap on soft tires. The off-track excursion caused him to violently hit the curb, damaging the floor both externally and underneath.
The damage was so severe that Williams had to end the session early for the Argentine driver to carry out the necessary repairs. However, as revealed after qualifying, despite the overnight repair work, the floor still lost aerodynamic efficiency, with a total estimated loss of about three-tenths.
“We seemed fast yesterday. Unfortunately, I damaged the floor in FP2. We managed to repair it, but after the repairs, we lost more downforce than we thought, which translates to over three-tenths. So we’re losing significant time, and it hurt us in qualifying. We noticed right away in FP3 that downforce was missing,” Colapinto explained after qualifying, shedding light on why he couldn’t do better than 19th place. Although the mechanics can continue working to improve the situation, it is unlikely the floor will be fully restored.
The Argentine driver had already faced setbacks, having to revert to an older front suspension that is a couple of kilograms heavier than the latest spec. The crash in Qatar at the start had further compounded issues, damaging not only the floor but also the chassis. The team worked hard during the week to repair the car.
In fact, both Grove cars are penalized in Abu Dhabi for replacing the floor. The team has now reached its 13th floor change of the season, exceeding the ten allowed, underscoring how much the crashes have taken a toll.
This shortage of spare parts also meant that it was impossible to replace Franco Colapinto’s floor before qualifying. Despite the repairs, it still lost some downforce: “In any other situation, we would have replaced the floor, but we don’t have another one. So that’s how it is; the floor has a lack of grip in the corners,” Colapinto added.
Williams was unable to capitalize on the car’s Friday performance. There had been some optimism within the team based on the FW46’s potential, despite a technical issue with Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto’s crash affecting the session. Albon also failed to avoid elimination in Q1, frustrated at not being able to maximize a potential he believed could have placed him higher up.
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