BREAKING: FIA Imposes 60-place Penalty Ruling On…See more
FIA Hands 60‑Place Grid Penalty to Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at British GP
Silverstone, 6 July 2025 — The FIA has handed Alpine’s young rookie Franco Colapinto a staggering 60‑place grid penalty for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix after the team made unauthorized power unit changes after his Q1 crash
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Colapinto, for Alpine, spun and collided with the barriers during Q1, resulting in a red flag. With his qualifying performance effectively ruined, the team opted to swap effectively the entire power unit—combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU‑H, MGU‑K, energy store, control electronics, and exhaust system—while the car was in parc fermé conditions .
As per FIA Sporting Regulations, each replacement of a component incurs a 10-place grid penalty. Colapinto’s replacement of six such critical components thus entailed an astonishing 60-place penalty—an impossibility in theory since there are only 20 cars on the grid. As per regulation, however, any combined penalty of more than 15 places automatically makes the driver eligible for a pit-lane start.
In addition, Colapinto has been unable to score points in his F1 return. The punishment puts additional pressure on the Argentine, who has experienced a miserable reception at Alpine. The team already utilized reserve driver Paul Aron in FP1 at Silverstone and Hungary, reflecting internal reservations about Colapinto’s performance. In addition, veteran Valtteri Bottas has been reported as a potential standby, potentially scoring more consistent point-scorin finishes.
With the starting grid locked in, Colapinto will therefore start at the rear—or better still, in the pit lane—when the lights go out on Saturday. Everyone else will be out on the track, while Colapinto begins at the rear after the formation lap (-).
Tuesday’s race is going to be a drama—not only for Colapinto’s pit lane thrust up the hill but also with Max Verstappen on pole and McLaren leading the top three .
