On Friday, August 21, 2026, the Formula 1 World Championship held its second Sprint Qualifying session (SQ2) of the season. Franco Colapinto, the 24-year-old Argentine driver for the Williams Racing team, came up just short of the final top-ten shootout.
According to the specialist motorsport portal formularacers, Colapinto finished the session in 13th place with a gap of +1.413 seconds to the provisional fastest time of the second phase. The young Argentine driver began the segment strongly and looked set to advance to the final and decisive SQ3 segment, but was pushed back down the order in the final minutes of the session by rivals able to find more time on the soft compound tyres.
The six drivers eliminated in the SQ2
The results from the SQ2 segment, which locks in the final top ten in the Sprint starting grid, were as follows:
| Position | Driver | Gap to the fastest time in the segment |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Liam Lawson | +1.110 s |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | +1.119 s |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto (ARG) | +1.413 s |
| 14 | Nico Hülkenberg | +1.590 s |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | +1.867 s |
| 16 | Alex Albon | +2.268 s |
Notably, Colapinto's Williams teammate, Alex Albon, was last among the eliminated drivers, far off the pace. This confirms the competitive level of the field in that short session, where thousandths of a second can make the difference between reaching the front row or being eliminated in the early stages.
Sprint Qualifying, a Fast-format format
In a Sprint weekend, a format used in certain Grand Prix events, the traditional Friday qualifying is replaced by the Sprint Shootout, a shorter session that decides the grid for the short race held on Saturday. In this fast-paced format, drivers have less time to set a time, increasing the intensity.
With this result, Colapinto will line up 13th for the Sprint race, a challenging position but still in a zone where overtaking and a strong start can bring him close to points-scoring positions. The 100-kilometre sprint, which lasts about half an hour, offers the drivers the opportunity to earn extra championship points.
What happens next and expectations
The Sprint race will be held on Saturday, August 22, starting from 16:00 local time (we always verify local time for the readers). With the car’s starting places already defined by the results above, the battle in the short race will be intense. Even though Colapinto will not start at the front, the Argentine continues to show a positive learning curve in the category, as he did in the previous 2024 races, and fans in the country will be paying close attention to the remontada (comeback).
The Sprint race is usually an exciting event where drivers fight from the first lap. With a clear weather forecast and a track evolving well on the track, this could be a good opportunity for the Williams team to adjust the set-up before the traditional qualifying on Saturday for the main race on Sunday.
Next on the calendar: the main F1 Grand Prix of the weekend will be held on Sunday, where Colapinto and his Williams will also try to shine, as the Argentine driver aims for his first podium in the world championship.
About Franco Colapinto: the young driver was born in Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, and made his Formula 1 debut in 2024 after winning the Formula 2 sprint race. He is the first Argentine driver to race in the top category of motorsport in almost 20 years, which has generated a huge wave of support in the country.
This weekend he is supported by the sponsorship of Argentine brands and a great number of fans who traveled to the circuit in Europe.
Source: portón formularacers - ESPN - Official Formula 1 reports.