Franco Colapinto must pass medical to race after "severe" 50G crash
Franco Colapinto's participation in the Las Vegas Grand Prix is in doubt after "severe" 50G qualifying shunt.
Williams say Franco Colapinto needs a further medical evaluation to be passed fit to race after suffering a 50G crash in F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying.
The 21-year-old Argentinian sustained significant damage to his FW46 after a huge shunt at the penultimate corner on his final lap of qualifying, leaving him out in Q2 and 14th on the grid.
But Colapinto is not guaranteed to take part in the race after Williams confirmed he needs to undergo a second medical check-up before Sunday’s grand prix.
“During qualifying Franco sustained a significant impact of over 50G, requiring a medical check up,” a Williams team statement said.
“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.”
Given the brutal nature of Colapinto’s crash, which destroyed three corners of his car, he may be consigned to a pitlane start providing he is declared fit to race.
It marked the sixth major crash for Williams across the past three events in Mexico, Brazil and Las Vegas.
Williams team principal James Vowles has estimated the cost damage from the recent rebuilds to be several million dollars.
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