Alpine Formula 1 driver Franco Colapinto prevented a huge crash during the start of the Australian Grand Prix, thanks to his sharp reflexes. A video of the save has gone viral on social media, highlighting the dangers of motorsports and showcasing the superhuman reaction times of F1 drivers.
The Australian race showcased plenty of action even before the race began, given Oscar Piastri’s crash during the reconnaissance lap. This excitement continued all the way up to the final lap. Notably, the race start procedure is quite different this year when compared to the previous seasons due to the nature of the new cars, which require revving at high RPMs before the launch to spool the turbos.
However, this may have increased the dangers during race starts, as seen in the video shared on X. Colapinto, who started the race from P16, navigated through traffic after launching his car, only to nearly crash into Liam Lawson’s VCARB03 F1 car that became bogged down.
The Argentine driver’s sharp reaction helped in executing a last-minute save by swerving his Alpine A526 F1 car towards the right and squeezing it between Lawson’s car and the barrier. Footage of the save reveals the two cars were just inches away from disaster.
QUE LARGADA COLAPINTO POR DIOS ME PONGO DE PIE ESTE ES MI PILOTO REFLEJOS DE ORO pic.twitter.com/BSajVHisCo
— Carrascal (@demalmada) March 8, 2026
Speaking to the media after the race, Colapinto said:
“At the start we almost had a massive shunt with Liam as he got stuck on the grid and I was really lucky to go through that lap one. I was really, really lucky.”
Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson expressed his reaction to the save by Colapinto in his post-race analysis. He said:
“Wow. It’s like he’s got cat-like reactions here. I mean if I now play it in slow motion, watch what he does on the wheel. How on earth he avoided the rear wheel and the wall is beyond me. It’s amazing. I could watch that a thousand times over. I’ll never get over that.
“How there wasn’t a crash there. I mean, we all expected some poor getaways, but wow he was completely blinded by what happened there with poor old Liam Lawson.”
Davidson’s co-host and former F1 champion Jenson Button added:
“Yeah the amazing thing is you don’t see it until he’s on top of the car. How does he slow it down so much? I mean, from a driver’s point of view, I don’t know how that just happened.
“That was proper scary, hopefully that’s the last time we see that.”
Lawson said after the race that he was experiencing problems with his car that led to the slow start. He said:
“The car didn’t move. I lost all power, and I couldn’t get power for another five seconds. I was just sitting there. It’s pretty frustrating.”
