It was a nightmare British Grand Prix weekend for Franco Colapinto at Silverstone. The Argentine driver was forced to retire without even completing a single lap, exiting another poor Formula 1 race for Alpine with gearbox issues after the formation lap.

Things had started promisingly for Colapinto, who had shown strong pace in the Friday practice sessions. He outperformed teammate Pierre Gasly and looked set for a solid performance, but it all came crashing down on Saturday’s qualifying. Under tricky track conditions with light rain, the Argentine spun into the barriers in the final corner. That forced him to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid. 

Things went from bad to worse on Sunday morning. Alpine had to make several changes to the Argentine’s engine, meaning he’d have to start from the pitlane.

With mixed conditions on Sunday once again, the 22-year-old driver veered into the pits to switch to dry track tyres in an attempt to regain some places, but it proved costly. A gearbox issue caused his car to stall, stuck in second gear, as a heartbroken Colapinto told his team.

“Something is broken, what the f***?,” he could be heard saying on the radio. “It’s the same as Barcelona, the same. Mate, I can’t believe it.”

It forced a fast end to another disappointing weekend.

Bottas rumors confirmed

What has been arguably Colapinto’s worst weekend as an F1 driver came at the worst possible time for the Argentine. On Saturday, Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff confirmed the Renault-owned team has been in talks over a potential move for Finnish veteran driver Valtteri Bottas

“I saw [Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore] today and we talked about Valtteri,” Wolff told streaming service Viaplay. “It seems that the interest in Valtteri is increasing even more.”

Bottas is under contract as a Mercedes reserve driver, but the team boss admitted he would not stand in his way if an offer from Alpine comes his way.

“He deserves that spot,” Wolff said. “If someone grabs him as a race driver, we’ll let him go, of course, with a tear in the corner of our eye.”

Amid it all, Colapinto received a message of support from his manager, former driver Jamie Campbell-Walter.

“Tough day in the office for Fran, but we kept it clean and continue to learn,” he wrote on his X. “Our time will come and keep looking forward and remain positive for the future.”

It wasn’t all bad news for Colapinto, who announced over the weekend a new sponsorship deal with Latin American telecommunications company Claro.

“I am happy to have formed an alliance with Claro and to have their support this year,” said the Argentine about the deal. “I am proud to unite our brands and to bring a little bit of Latin America to every Grand Prix.”

The telecommunications company joins a long list of Latin American companies that support the Argentine, like online marketplace operator Mercado Libre, petrochemical giant YPF and traditional beer brand Quilmes.