“Franco braked 100m early” – Nico Hulkenberg blames Colapinto for Singapore GP spin

Nico Hulkenberg has blamed his Singapore Grand Prix spin on Franco Colapinto, claiming the Alpine Formula 1 driver braked much earlier than usual.

Hulkenberg was attacking Colapinto for 14th position on lap 43 of the race when he clipped the rear of the Alpine in Turn 8, breaking his Sauber’s front wing endplate. But the Argentinian was not to blame as he was on the inside and was ahead at the apex, meaning he was not required to leave space according to racing guidelines.

On the next lap however, approaching Turn 7, Hulkenberg was surprised by his opponent’s braking point and spun. He made his way back to the pits and finished the race down in 20th and last, having been overtaken by Colapinto’s team-mate Pierre Gasly on the final lap.

“Pretty big one actually, lucky not to hit anything,” the German veteran commented.

“Franco braked 100 metres early, which I'm not sure why. Probably wanted to surprise me somehow – [he] succeeded with that,” Hulkenberg added with a bitter laugh. “But the problem is, when you get close, the rear downforce just drops away completely. The rear axle locked up instantly, and there's nothing you can do then.”

Colapinto wasn’t overly concerned about the incident, referring the media to Hulkenberg: “I don't know, I just saw him in the mirror spinning. I can't tell you, he should tell you for [himself].”

Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Colapinto was classified 16th, marking the fourth time the youngster beat team-mate Gasly in a race that both Alpine cars finished, but the Anglo-French team is now on a five-round point-less streak.

“Very long day, very tough, no pace in the car. I think it's just a frustrating afternoon. We did our best, with a strange strategy to try and make it work – and do something different to the others – but it didn't work,” Colapinto said, referring to his soft/medium strategy, which he was the only driver executing – two others ran a medium/soft tactic, while Gasly’s two-stop failed to pay off.

“Just a lot of degradation in the car, the tyres falling apart, and nothing really clicking together. It's tough out there, it's not what we want. We just need to keep pushing, but it's definitely very difficult at the moment.”