Franco Colapinto has insisted that crashing on his Alpine qualifying debut does is "not as bad as it looks", following a disastrous Saturday in Imola.
The Argentine driver will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from at best 16th following his crash in Q1, which brought out a red flag in the dying seconds of the session.
He had progressed to the second part of qualifying but could not take but, whilst he also received a one-place grid penalty for heading to the end of the pit lane before a resumption time was confirmed.
It was the worst possible start for Colapinto, in what was his first experience of attempting to push the limits in Alpine's A525.
"Yes, of course, it's tricky when you start from zero, kind of six races behind the others," Colapinto told select media, including RacingNews365. "But overall, I've just been getting used to the car, to the tyres, to the balance.
"The car is very different to what I was used to. In quali, it was probably the first time that I really arrived to the limit of the car. I was always a bit below, and it's very easy to sometimes go out of that window.
"I was pushing the limits a bit more. The margins are very tight in quali nowadays, and I kind of tried to use a bit more kerbs and go a bit for it, it was just too much. So it's a pity, it's a lot of work in the garage tonight.
"So, just very sorry for the team, it's not great to start like this. But overall, I've been feeling more comfortable with the car, a bit more connected after the sessions and after having doing the laps. So I think even though it's tough, what happened, I'm sure we are going to comeback strong."
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Colapinto downplays crash
Colapinto's costly accident occurred at Turn 4 after clipping the grass of the previous corner, sending him heavily into the barrier and resulting in substantial front damage.
It marked a frustrating outcome for Alpine, as Pierre Gasly on the other side of the garage secured 10th on the grid.
Despite crashing in his first qualifying for Alpine, Colapinto does not view the situation in an entirely negative outlook.
"It's tough, of course, it's not what you want, especially in your first quali," added Colapinto. "But I think Alpine's been very supportive. I have enjoyed a lot working with them, we were pushing in the same direction.
"I'm learning the car every lap I'm doing. So I think, still a lot to learn. I'm sure doing the race tomorrow is going to help me a lot to get a bit more used to the degradation, get a bit more used to the car, to the engine, and to many other things that are different [to Williams].
"So yeah, it looks really bad, but it's not as bad as it looks in terms of how I've been adapting to the car. I'm quite happy and much more comfortable in the [seat] than what I was yesterday."
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