Franco Colapinto must pass a medical inspection after his high-speed crash in qualifying in order to take part in Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Williams driver suffered a heavy impact with a barrier at the end of Q2, after clipping the inside wall at turn 16 on his final push lap.
The force of the accident moved the concrete barrier at the exit of the corner and caused a delay to the start of Q3. Colapinto climbed out of the car under his own power but his FW46 was badly damaged.
Colapinto’s crash means he will provisionally start from 14th on the grid. However, a statement released by Williams revealed that Colapinto would need to be medically assessed and cleared on Saturday before he would be allowed to race.
“During qualifying, Franco sustained a significant impact of over 50G, requiring a medical check-up,” the Williams statement read.
“An impact of this magnitude is obviously significant and severe and he will need to be evaluated again tomorrow before we will know whether he is clear to race. Franco’s health is all that matters and we are glad he is otherwise okay. We will provide further updates when we can.”
Colapinto’s heavy crash is his second in the last two qualifying sessions and third in the last three days of on-track action. Williams have suffered from more severe accidents involving their cars this season than any other team on the grid in 2024.
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After the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Colapinto crashed twice and team mate Alexander Albon missed the race after crashing in qualifying, team principal James Vowles admitted they do not carry enough spare parts to deal with such a high frequency of accidents.
Albon is due to start 18th on the grid after he was eliminated from Q1. He complained that the volume of traffic on his final out-lap left him unable to get his tyres in the right window to begin his final flying lap.
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2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
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