Written by Meghana Sree, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
The first Argentinian Formula One driver in 23 years. The first Argentinian to score points in F1 in 42 years. In just under a month, Franco Colapinto has made waves throughout the F1 community with these admirable feats and has proved any initial sceptics wrong.
Thrust into F1 well into the second half of the season as a replacement for an under-performing Logan Sargeant at Williams, the overwhelming first reactions were confusion at the decision to bring in a rookie replacement.
However, Colapinto has confidently shown everyone that he could achieve more in just three races than what Sargeant did in 36, blowing expectations out of the water.
Making his official debut at Monza, a historic venue, Colapinto qualified 18th and made up six positions on Sunday to finish just two positions away from points. He finished the job at the next round in Azerbaijan in an impressive drive from P9 on the grid to P8, quadrupling Sargeant’s total F1 career tally of points.
In his third F1 weekend at Singapore, arguably the most gruelling race on the calendark, Colapinto delighted once more with a remarkable drive from P12 to just outside the points in eleventh place.
His first race under the floodlights of Singapore was packed with bold overtakes, brave defending, and brilliant endurance throughout to hang on to his position.
His performance even earned the high praise of six-time Grand Prix winner Sergio Pérez, who said over the radio that Colapinto was “very good” and “difficult to pass.”
Colapinto was always destined for F1, marked by his title win in the 2019 Spanish F4 Championship, and victory at the Youth Summer Olympics the previous year.
The Argentinian is also a versatile and adaptable driver who has dabbled in endurance racing, taking part in the European and Asian Le Mans Series in 2021, and securing three podiums. He also raced in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series, finishing the season in third place, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and behind Liam Lawson.
Climbing up the ranks, 2023 saw Colapinto’s first Formula 2 entry, which, like his F1 debut, was as a replacement driver. Ahead of confirmation from MP Motorsport that Colapinto would be driving for them in 2024, they swapped Jehan Daruvala with the Argentinian for the final round at Abu Dhabi.
In just his fifth F2 round, Colapinto clinched his maiden F2 win at the Imola Sprint Race, 2024, after a stunning last lap overtake on Paul Aron. Racking up 96 points in the Drivers’ Standings, the Williams Driver Academy protégé raced in his final 2024 F2 weekend at Spa, before being promoted to F1 for the remainder of the year.
With such a well-rounded career thus far under his belt, it certainly calls for having Colapinto on the grid next year in a seat, joining the pool of other rookies for 2025.
With only six races to go and just two more seats vacant for next season, Colapinto has done more than enough to prove that he deserves a full-time drive in F1. James Vowles, Williams Team Principal, has already mentioned being open to talks with Sauber about the possibility of Colapinto joining them next to Nico Hülkenberg.
It remains to be seen where Colapinto will race next year, but hopefully, this year isn’t the last we see of the rapid 21-year-old.
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