Argentine race driver Franco Colapinto had a complex start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, with a hard-fought debut at the Australian Grand Prix opener. 

The 22-year-old, who had never previously participated in the first run of the season, finished 14th in a troubled race both for him and the series as a whole.

With a brand-new generation of cars, new-spec engines, and even a new team on the grid, things were bound to get tricky. So what can we learn from Colapinto’s first time racing an F1 in the land down under?

It’ll be a long, rollercoaster ride of a season

During the Bahrain pre-season tests, Colapinto’s Alpine F1 had established itself as a serious candidate for the series’ “best of the rest” moniker behind the top four teams, but there was very little of that in Australia.

Both Colapinto and French teammate Pierre Gasly struggled to find their pace in the qualifying session, starting 16th and 14th, respectively. In the race, it was only through grit and a healthy dose of luck that Gasly managed to finish 10th to pick up the first point of the season.

“Based purely on the result, it’s not where we wanted to be,” Colapinto told Alpine F1’s media team. “There’s definitely some positives to take away with the race pace and data we........

© Buenos Aires Herald