MELBOURNE, March 8 (Reuters) - Argentine Formula One driver Franco Colapinto drew praise for his "cat-like" reaction in avoiding what could have been a serious collision at the start of Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The Alpine racer, starting 16th, nearly piled into the back of Liam Lawson's unsighted Racing Bulls as the New Zealander struggled to make a clean getaway from eighth.
Thanks to his split-second reaction, Colapinto squeezed his car between the Racing Bulls and concrete wall to continue unscathed down the straight.
The top three finishers watched the incident in the cool-down room after the race and shouted out in shock.
“I was actually lucky to finish the race, as it almost ended at the start with a scary moment trying to avoid Lawson who was very slow off the line,” Colapinto said after finishing 14th.
“I almost went straight into the back of him and managed to see him at the last minute.
“I swerved to the right and squeezed between him and the pit wall. I think I touched the wall, but thankfully we didn’t suffer any serious damage and we got through the first lap unscathed.”
Former racer Anthony Davidson hailed an extraordinary escape.
"Wow. It's like he's got cat-like reactions here," said the Briton on Sky Sports television. "How on earth he avoided the rear wheel and the wall is beyond me. It's amazing. I could watch that 1,000 times over. I'll never get over that."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin)
