🇦🇺 Colapinto Report – 2026 Australian GP
A solid debut in the new era of F1, marked by viral moments, plenty of learning and competitive race pace
Published
12 Mar 2026
Est. reading time
4 min
🏁 Race Report – 2026 Australian Grand Prix
- Circuit: Albert Park, Melbourne
- Date: 8 March 2026
- Franco’s result: P14
P1: George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:27:32.011
P2: Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 1:27:35.423
P3: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:27:37.915
P10: Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – +1 lap
It was a weekend of adaptation to the new era of F1 where Franco showed good pace despite an early penalty.
🇦🇷 Franco’s highlights from this race
The first Grand Prix of 2026 marked the beginning of a new chapter for Formula 1 and also for Franco with Alpine. In a weekend full of regulatory changes and learning for all teams, the Argentine driver completed a solid race at Albert Park.
Although an early penalty affected his chances of fighting further up the order, Franco managed to finish the race without mistakes, showing good pace in longer stints and gathering key data for the team ahead of the upcoming rounds.
Key moments:
- Start reaction: Franco avoided a possible accident by evading Liam Lawson, who had a very slow start from the grid. He had to move towards the pit wall, even brushing it slightly, demonstrating an impressive level of skill. Soon we will post the whole explanation about what happened in case you missed it.
- Early penalty: An infringement during the starting procedure resulted in a stop-and-go penalty which he served on lap 10, temporarily dropping him to the back of the field.
- Progressive recovery: After serving the penalty, Franco started to regain positions from the back with good pace, eventually returning to the midfield battle.
Key data from Franco’s weekend
FP1:
P16 – 1:20.325
FP2:
P18 – 1:22.619
FP3:
P16 – 1:21.413
Quali:
P16 – 1:21.270
Race
- P14
- Fastest lap: 7th fastest overall, a 1:22.926 on lap 49
One of the most highlighted data points was Franco’s top speed, which reached 344 km/h, the highest recorded during the race.
And now we know that this earned him the title of “Aramco Speed Master” of the race:
Race strategy and management
Pit stops + tyre compounds:
Started on hard tyres (H), entered the pits on Lap 10 to serve the stop-and-go penalty, and on Lap 46 switched to soft tyres.
Alpine’s initial strategy was to start on hard tyres in order to extend the first stint. However, the early penalty forced a change of approach for the race. After serving the stop-and-go on lap 10, Franco managed the pace very well during the long stint on the same tyres before switching to soft tyres on lap 46 for the final part of the race. Several Virtual Safety Car phases also added strategic complexity for all teams during the race.
Speed traps:
- Sector 1: P8 – 273 km/h
- Sector 2: P6 – 318 km/h
- Finish line: P4 – 321 km/h
- Speed trap: P5 – 306 km/h
Sectors:
- Sector 1: P7 – 29.042
- Sector 2: P1 – 17.380
- Sector 3: P8 – 36.352
🎙️ Weekend quotes
Franco told us after the race: “Based purely on the result, it's not where we wanted to be, however there's definitely some positives to take away with the race pace and data we gathered, which we can learn from for future races.”
He also said that he felt progress throughout the weekend and that, despite the final result, he was pleased with how the car felt and performed, especially in race trim where they were able to compare themselves with some of their direct midfield rivals.
And, as always a team player, he added: “Well done to Pierre also for getting a point to start the season.”
Steve Nielsen, Alpine’s Managing Director, commented on the penalty: “Unfortunately an operational error on Franco's team side meant he had to serve a penalty which ended any chances of him scoring points.” The positive side is that everyone knows these things can happen at the start of a season with new regulations, and that the team also takes responsibility, as he added: “This is something we, as a team, take on the chin.”
When is the next race?
We continue this week with the Chinese Grand Prix, actually starting today/tomorrow, although things will be a little different as it will be a Sprint weekend. Soon we will bring you everything you need to know to keep supporting Franco.
🩵 The first weekend of the season left many lessons for Franco and Alpine
Despite the penalty that affected the final result, our driver showed what he’s capable of and delivered a clean race, adding important mileage with the A526. But above all, he caught global attention thanks to how viral his ninja-like reflexes at the start became.
We want to see the best posts of his reaction at the start, so tag us using #FranClub43.
See you later today in Shanghai 🇨🇳
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