The confirmation of Franco Colapinto as the Williams team’s starting driver for the remainder of the season. Formula 1replacing the American Logan Sargeant, has Argentine fans absolutely expectant before the imminent official debut that will take place this weekend.
It will be at the Italian Grand Prix, in Monza, where an Argentine will drive again in a Formula 1 race after 23 years, when Gastón Mazzacane abandoned with Prost on lap 28 of the San Marino GP of the 2001 season.
Colapinto will thus join a list of 22 other Argentine pilots who passed through the highest category, which had Juan Manuel Fangio as the main exponent with 5 world titles, already Froilán González already Carlos Reutemannboth with victories in F1 and also with runners-up finishes, in different eras.
The expectation that Colapinto generates is great not only among motorsport fans, but it has also created great admiration for a large part of the young public who approached the world of racing attracted by the phenomenon that Netflix caused in Formula 1, with your series Drive to Survive.
That exaltation was manifested every time the pilot from Pilar was in the country in the last year. First, when he appeared at the headquarters of the Argentine Automobile Club and A crowd of boys waited for him on Avenida Del Libertador. And the last one when a couple of weeks ago he went out to spin a classic sports car through the streets of Buenos Aires as part of a promotional action.
Beginnings in a pickup truck and with Traverso on board
At that time, Colapinto not only responded to the press about his current status in Formula 2 and his chances of reaching F1, but he also recalled his origins and part of his journey until he started competing, as well as his preferences when get into a street car.
For example, he recalled that “My old man taught me how to drive” and he justified it: “He was very fanatical. I don’t remember what age he was, since he was very little. But I can tell you that it was probably in a truck because it was in the countryside,” Colapinto said in the program. Movingde Fox Sports.
And then he perfected himself: “Later I had several coaches. Lucas Benamo took me first to go karting and that’s where I started. And it came a little naturally. If you have the feeling and that with the steering wheel. If you have that passion it comes a little naturally, I think.
-If you have to drive on a trip, do you like doing it? Do you enjoy it?
-Yeah. In Europe I generally don’t drive. I’m driving a lot in the simulator, a lot in the race car and I try to get someone else to drive. I do enjoy it here because I’m on vacation. And also when there is a lot of traffic, I like to choose where to go and arrive a few minutes early sometimes. But in general, I don’t drive much, I do it only when necessary.
-And when it’s your turn to drive and you can choose, manual or automatic transmission?
-I love the manual gearbox. When I drove the Cobra I really enjoyed it. Short manual, good race… But hey, now there are a lot of automatics, really.
-Do you like classic cars?
-I also love the classics. The Cobra was also one of my favorite cars to drive, one of the cars that I dreamed of driving as a kid. My old man told me a lot about the Cobra. It was always a car that I said “at some point I want to drive it and it happened.
-What can’t be missing in Colapinto’s car when he gets in?
-You can’t miss the sticker of Flaco Traverso. A little bit of gasoline to give it to start the wick… (laughs) Because sometimes the pilot is missing, sometimes the pilot doesn’t appear (more laughter). But hey, you always have to be there, ready for any situation.
Almost like a premonition, Colapinto seemed ready for the situation that could arise and has finally been confirmed: being a driver of a Formula 1 car.
But he also had time to make his intentions clear: “I am a big fan of Senna and Fangiodrivers with whom I grew up watching documentaries and that was a bit what got me into motorsport. “I feel quite represented with how they came to Formula 1 coming from South America.”
And he warned: “But nowadays, they are all made of flesh and blood. And when I get into a Formula 1 I think that if you have an idol, a person that you admire a lot, it will be difficult to beat him. That’s why it’s better to lower them to your level and try to see them a little more as equals. And the one who drives the best will be the one who walks the fastest. This weekend you will have to start doing it.
