I surpassed Gasly, the Argentine barrabrava who surprised Leclerc and the father’s emotion

Fate wanted Franco Colapinto starts in Formula 1 at the Monza circuit, one of the most iconic on the calendar. For this reason, too, there was a lot of Argentine presence in the stands of the Italian Grand Prix. His valuable 12th place on the 16th day of the World Cup generated positive comments and left several pearls worth highlighting: the overtaking of Pierre Gasly, the comment of the winner Charles Leclerc about the Argentine bravado in the stands and the emotion of his father Aníbal.

Colapinto received many hugs as he walked around the paddock after taking the checkered flag. No one wanted to miss out on congratulating him or taking a photo with the first Argentine driver in the top category in the last 23 years. And he, with great humility, He stopped to chat with each of them and comment on different situations. that he lived in the 53 laps he took in the ‘Temple of Speed’.

In fact, when he was still wearing the jumpsuit with which he had competed in the race, he approached the fence on the main stretch because a large group of Argentines wanted to greet him, take a photo or get an autograph on their albiceleste shirts and, also, of Boca, a club of which the one born in Pilar is a fan.

After the race, Colapinto confessed that the number of Argentines in the stands surprised even Charles Leclerc himself, who took the victory aboard the Ferrari and made the fans of the Italian team delirious. “We were talking with Charles and Alex (Albon) during the previous drivers’ walk and they told me: ‘there are more flags from Argentina than from Ferrari, they are completely crazy.’ push this dream,” he became excited.

A while before he had received important praise, that of James Volwes, the Williams team manager who trusted him to replace the American Logan Sargeant in the middle of the year. “Franco, that was a fantastic first race. You didn’t make any mistakesyou finished a few seconds behind Alex. Let’s repeat it next weekend. If you have a good pace in qualifying and keep it that way, you will be close and you will be able to fight. Well done. It was your first race and I can’t wait to see how we build together from here on out,” he told her over the radio.

The thing is that, beyond completing the race, Colapinto demonstrated his driving conditions and knew how to adapt to the tire degradation under intense heat in Monza, in fact this surprised his own teammate Alex Albon. One of the most mentioned maneuvers was the one carried out by the Argentine on lap 30, when he measured Pierre Gasly before entering the parabolic curve and, once he entered the main straight, he was on par with the Frenchman. to stretch the braking and take a chance inside the entrance to the chicane, to advance to 15th place.

Then came the moment of the mixed zone, the same one where he had flirted with a journalist last Thursday, and where he now took the opportunity to score points with one of the most prominent Spanish presenters in the category. “Tell Lobato (Antonio, from the DAZN network) that I am not Italian-Argentine, that I am only Argentine. I only have the passport, but I have read in several places that he is saying that”he launched.

In that same place, one of the best compliments from his rivals was given, that of the Spanish Fernando Alonso, who had a young Colapinto in his academy several years ago. “If he knew that Colapinto was behind, he let him pass, he was not going to score points in the same way and it was going to serve him more. He had a good race. He should prepare well in the coming weeks and adjust that seat because Singapore is not as easy as Monza,” said the Spaniard, who finished in 11th place.

Among the greetings he first received when he returned to his team area was his dad Aníbalsuffering from the first moment of the weekend for the opportunity that his son had achieved, but enjoying it accordingly. “I am happy with life, Franco did a great job, very good. His first race in Formula 1 and he made no mistakes, very good,” were the first words of the person who accompanied his son in Monza, as in every race.

“I was very nervous, very anxious. All things happen inside the body. But I was very sure of what Franco was doing, he did it very well,” he added.

“We are here in Williams waiting for him, the only thing I am going to do is hug him. We are waiting to give you a big hug. It is a moment that we will always keep, we will never forget this day,” she said, before crossing him and melting into his arms, containing her emotion.

Among those who arrived at that place was also Cesar Carmanpresident of the Argentine Automobile Club (ACA). He stressed that last year, Colapinto said that he was close to being able to fulfill the dream of seeing him in the highest category and it came true. “We want to thank you for this emotion and this achievement that all of us who love motorsports have been waiting for more than 23 years.”held.