Colapinto suffers crash during Pirelli's Hungaroring tyre test, Leclerc gets behind the wheel of Ferrari

On the second day of the Pirelli tyre development testing in Mogyoród, Alpine driver Franco Colapinto crashed during a Pirelli tyre test at the Hungaroring on Wednesday.

Just two days after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Pirelli was back on track on Tuesday with McLaren, Racing Bulls and Alpine at the Hungaroring to carry out a test session, centred on development of the 2026 tyres.

Commenting on the aim of the running, Pirelli revealed that: "in the morning, the drivers carried out short runs to check the performance level of each of these, before switching to longer runs in the afternoon to observe their behaviour over longer distances."

The three teams all ran mule cars, adapted to fit the dimensions of the 2026 tyres which, while retaining the 18” diameter, are 25 mm narrower at the front and 30 at the rear. McLaren and Alpine’s cars were based on their 2023 model, while Racing Bulls used one from last season.

All three drivers on track today had also been at the wheel over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend: McLaren fielded race winner Lando Norris, in the Racing Bulls was Liam Lawson, while Paul Aron, who had driven in the first free practice session last Friday for Sauber, was behind the wheel of the Alpine.

Testing has continued today, with Alpine’s current line-up of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly and Hungarian GP pole-sitter Charles Leclerc set to get behind the wheel of the modified A525 and SF-25, respectively.

However, during today's running at the Hungaroring, Colapinto suffered a crash at Turn 11. The Argentinean driver was taken to the circuit medical centre after the accident and Alpine confirmed in a statement the Argentine driver was "OK."

"During day two of Pirelli tyre testing at the Hungaroring this morning, Franco Colapinto had an incident at Turn 11," Alpine said in a statement. "Franco was assessed on site at the medical centre and is OK."

The driver from Buenos Aires, who is on loan to Alpine from Williams, replaced Jack Doohan at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but has struggled for results alongside teammate Pierre Gasly and failed to score a point.