World

Franco Colapinto finishes ninth in the F1 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying

The Argentine driver for Alpine achieved an impressive ninth place in the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying, outperforming his teammate Pierre Gasly.

12 September 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Franco Colapinto finishes ninth in the F1 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying — Photo: Liauzh · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Franco Colapinto, the Argentine driver for Alpine, achieved a notable qualifying performance in the Spanish Grand Prix, securing ninth place. This marks his fourth appearance in the season's final qualifying round, known as Q3.

In the second qualifying session, Colapinto outpaced his teammate, Pierre Gasly, with a time that allowed him to start in ninth position, while Gasly was eliminated in Q2 and will begin from 14th. The pole position was claimed by Lando Norris, with Antonelli and Verstappen taking second and third places, respectively.

Colapinto expressed his excitement after the qualifying session, highlighting the work and effort that allowed him to achieve ninth place. During Q2, the Argentine driver surpassed Gasly by 0.751 seconds, standing out on the day.

The circuit hosting the Spanish Grand Prix is called Madring, and this is the first time the race is being held at this location. The qualifying took place a day before the main event, which is scheduled for Sunday.

The first day of activity at the new circuit included multiple practice sessions, where Colapinto had a mixed performance, finishing 13th in the first practice and 15th in the second, nearly a second behind Gasly in the second session. The second practice took place in a competitive atmosphere, marked by several accidents on the track.

The event will mark an important moment for the Argentine driver, who aims to improve his performance and seize the opportunity to compete at a new circuit like Madring. Aware that each race presents a new opportunity, Colapinto remains optimistic heading into Sunday’s race.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.