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Lewis Hamilton was involved in an alarming near-miss with Alpine driver Franco Colapinto at the start of second practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
Colapinto appeared to encounter a gearbox problem on the exit of the final corner, causing his car to go into neutral. That left him crawling down the pit straight.
Hamilton was fast approaching in the Ferrari and had to duck off the racing line at high speed to avoid an accident. The British driver lamented on the team radio that Colapinto was going ‘crazy slow’.
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F1 fans say Franco Colapinto deserves penalty for Lewis Hamilton incident
F1 fans on Reddit and X were aghast at Colapinto, who is starting his first full season with Alpine. The stewards will investigate the incident after the session.
One of them described his driving as ‘insane’, suggesting that he should have pulled off the racing line when his car started to trundle. On a similar note, a fellow fan asked, ‘Why the hell are you not going to the right of the track?’
- READ MORE: Franco Colapinto ‘under the most pressure’ heading into 2026 season with Alpine future under threat
Another said that he was ‘up to his usual trick’ of ‘driving unnecessarily slow’. Separate reactions included ‘what was Colapinto thinking’ and ‘needs to be a penalty, honestly’.
A final fan predicted that Alpine boss Flavio Briatore is going to ‘absolutely slaughter Colapinto’. A clip in the new season of Drive to Survive shows Briatore giving the Argentine a stern warning about his poor form in 2025.
Alpine have already played down Flavio Briatore and Franco Colapinto tension
Alpine made a playful reference to the aforementioned Drive to Survive scene on Instagram, telling fans: “Don’t believe everything you see on TV.”
They attached a photo of Briatore laughing with Colapinto as well as teammate Pierre Gasly.
Still, Colapinto failed to score a single point for the Enstone outfit last season, finishing 20th in the championship. Only Jack Doohan, the driver he replaced at the Emilia Romagna GP, was below him.
The Alpine car was clearly the slowest on the grid but Gasly managed to score 22 points in the same machinery.
While he held onto his seat for 2026, Guenther Steiner says Colapinto ‘will be gone’ by the summer break if he doesn’t improve.
Alpine have just signed Alex Dunne, one of the highest-rated drivers in Formula 2, as a reserve.
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