Franco Colapinto introduced out the purple flag as he crashed within the first free apply session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the Argentinian’s second System 1 race weekend for Williams starting in inauspicious circumstances.
Having changed Logan Sargeant forward of the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight in the past, Colapinto impressed on his debut, ending twelfth after qualifying down in 18th place at Monza.
He was promoted right into a race seat after Williams group boss James Vowles made the decision to drop Sargeant, who himself had suffered numerous crashes all through the season.
The final of these got here in FP3 for the Dutch Grand Prix final month, with Colapinto now mirroring such kind by placing his automotive into the obstacles having missed the apex and sliding into the wall at Flip 4.
“I’m okay,” he stated over the group radio, earlier than including: “Sorry for that, guys.”
His Williams went sideways into the way in which and seemingly precipitated a variety of injury, with potential gearbox points, too.
The shunt went towards what Colapinto wished to attain in Baku, having stated on Thursday he was planning to go step-by-step to rise up to hurry.
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing
Picture by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Photos
“The aim is to construct up slowly. I feel it is similar to Monza. Monza, I did not know the automotive. Now I do not know the monitor,” he stated.
“So it is nonetheless one factor to be taught solely. Three free apply periods, it is greater than sufficient I feel for us to be taught the monitor. I have not been on many avenue tracks, however I hope to have completed sufficient prep within the simulator and to have labored actually laborious with the group to completed sufficient to be on the tempo fast.
“So I do know it is going to be powerful. However I am doing a variety of work and a variety of prep to be prepared for it. After all, I feel we’ve a very good automotive to have the ability to rating factors. And I will attempt to do the perfect I can. I feel go step-by-step, session by session, after which see the place we find yourself.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc having additionally hit the wall in an eventful FP1, with each accidents bringing out the purple flag – following an preliminary early purple flag to get better particles on monitor.
Race winner in Monza, Leclerc broken the entrance proper of his Ferrari having carried an excessive amount of pace and discovering the barrier at Flip 15.
