Argentine racer Franco Colapinto crashed in Formula One tyre testing at the Hungarian Grand Prix circuit on Wednesday and was reported unhurt after being taken to the medical centre, his Alpine team said.
Renault-owned Alpine, Ferrari, McLaren and Racing Bulls are taking part in the two-day Pirelli test at the Hungaroring that followed on from last weekend’s grand prix, the last before the sport’s August break.
Alpine said in a statement that Colapinto, who took over from reserve driver Paul Aron for the final day, had “an incident” at turn 11, a right-handed curve that can be taken at 220kph.
“Franco was assessed on site at the medical centre and is OK,” they added.
The team gave no details about how the crash happened or damage to the car.
Colapinto, 22, replaced Australian Jack Doohan at Alpine after the first six races but has yet to finish higher than 13th for the team in seven starts.
He did not start in Britain, after crashing in qualifying and then suffering a gearbox issue, and there has been speculation he could also be replaced before the end of the season.
Teammate Pierre Gasly has scored all of last-placed Alpine’s 20 points, with three scoring finishes in his last six races.
Colapinto told reporters last week that he was lacking confidence in the car and struggling to turn into the corners in the way he would like.
“I didn’t have this issue last year (in nine races for Williams), I could go straight in and be quick straight away. Now I’m struggling a bit more with that,” he said.
“Generally the car is a bit tricky on entries and that’s what we are working on, on my side.”
