Franco Colapinto is new to the F1 grid, and is still getting used to the day-to-day lives of drivers competing at the pinnacle of motorsports. One new thing he experienced ahead of his fourth outing was Martin Brundle’s famous grid-walk. Unfortunately, Colapinto didn’t quite realize what to do.
Brundle, like he does every Grand Prix weekend, approached Colapinto before the start of the US GP, hoping to get a word with him. The Argentine driver, however, walked right past him, presumably because he did not recognize the former F1 driver turned Sky Sports pundit.
Soon, both parties figured that they could have handled the situation better, and there were no hard feelings. In the paddock at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ahead of the Mexican GP, Colapinto and Brundle met, apologizing to each other.
Colapinto when Brundle tries to speak to him: pic.twitter.com/bRCfR9Et3G
— Jamie MacLaurin (@JamieMacLaurin) October 20, 2024
“Sorry about what happened in Austin, that was my fault,” said Brundle. “I should have come, met you before, and introduced myself.”
Colapinto, however, knew that he should have been the one to apologize. “No Martin, it’s a pleasure, it’s a pleasure to be talking to you. I’m very sorry for what happened”, he said. But it turns out Colapinto didn’t ignore Brundle due to not knowing who he was—it was for a completely different reason altogether.
Why Colapinto didn’t pay attention to Brundle
After apologizing to Brundle for accidentally snubbing him at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Colapinto revealed that he wasn’t used to talking before races at all. In other words, he was in the zone. Until just a few weeks ago, Colapinto was in F2, where drivers would not get out of their cars before races.
After setting the grid ahead of the formation lap, they would just stay where they were, waiting for the lights to go out. In F1, however, drivers park their cars 30 minutes before the formation lap and then get out to give interviews and talk to team members.
Colapinto got to know about this at the Italian GP last month when he made his debut, replacing an underperforming Logan Sargeant. But going by what happened at the United States GP, he is still not very used to the workings.
