Franco Colapinto learns fate after shocking Lewis Hamilton near-miss

Franco Colapinto has learned the stewards' verdict after being investigated after second practice in Australia.

Colapinto was called to the stewards after being noted for driving unnecessarily slowly during the session.

The Alpine driver was hit with an issue as he rounded the final corner early in the outing, which caused his speed to drop dramatically.

But rather than move to the right of the circuit, he stayed on the racing line, which almost caused a major shunt with Lewis Hamilton.

The stewards ruled that no further action should be taken against Colapinto. 

In a lengthy statement outlining the situation, the stewards said: “Colapinto explained that his car suffered a ‘false neutral’ as he was approaching the final turn and lost drive as he turned onto the main straight. 

“While the team were giving him instructions over the radio to attempt to resolve the issue, the driver kept his car rolling slowly on the left of the main straight having been instructed to do so by his team should he be unable to resolve the issue and the driver needed to stop the car. 

“As Colapinto approached the control line, Colapinto was caught by Hamilton. While Hamilton had a clear line of sight of Colapinto for some distance along the main straight, Hamilton was apparently surprised to find Colapinto moving so slowly on the racing line and had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. 

“Colapinto explained that he was watching his mirrors the whole time and knew that Hamilton was approaching. He said that he was instructed by the team to stay to the left because the Race Director’s Competition Notes (Emergency Exit Map) marks the exit point on the main straight on the left side of the track. He said that if he had tried to move off the racing line when he had no drive he could have created a more dangerous situation.

“The stewards were satisfied that there was nothing about Colapinto's driving which was erratic. Given his mechanical problem, he was not driving “unnecessarily” slowly. 

“Given further that the driver positioned his car to ensure that he could reach the designated exit point in the event that the problem with his car was not resolved before he reached it, the stewards did not consider that the actions of the driver were unsafe and therefore determined to take no further action.”