The intimate talk of the Williams engineer with Franco Colapinto before the Baku GP: how he motivated the Argentine

Franco Colapinto makes history. After becoming the first Argentine to get into the top 10 of the start of a Formula 1 Grand Prixthe pilot of Williams (who had finished 9th) started in eighth position on the grid of the complicated circuit of Bakuin Azerbaijanthanks to a penalty that Lewis Hamilton received.

The young driver born in Pilar had an impeccable start despite starting with the pressure of keeping his place at the start and he achieved it with flying colours. Franco was the first to change tires before the tenth lap and dropped to 15th position in the race. However, little by little he took advantage of his rivals’ pit stops and on lap 23 he was already in tenth position, two away from his initial place.

In his second race, Franco receives constant support from the heads of the Williams team. Those are engineer Gaëtan Jego and team leader James Vowles.

On Saturday, after finishing in ninth position, Jego communicated by radio with Colapinto: “Not bad, P9, Q3 in your second classification. The lap was not the best, but it was a great qualy, don’t be disappointed.”

“Thank you. I skidded twice, I think I lost two tenths. Thanks guys, to every mechanic. I thought I didn’t make it to FP2 and you saved my life.”

Afterwards, the one who spoke was the man who bet on him and perhaps the one who trusts Colapinto the most: “Franco, well done. We got through a difficult moment. You made a great recovery afterwards, I am proud to see how you progressed in each session. You have to be proud.”

“Thank you James, there is a lot of work to continue today,” said the Argentine. “There are points tomorrow, let’s go for them,” the engineer concluded.

A week ago, in the run-up to Monza, the engineer conveyed confidence to Franco seconds before he started his first Formula 1 GP: “Don’t worry, take a deep breath before you start. You know what you’re doing, you’ve done it.” your whole life. It’s just different people, a different career. I’ll guide you, ten seconds, good luck, friend!“.

This morning, at the Baku GP, the one who took the talk to motivate the Argentine before getting on a complicated street circuit in which he had never raced before was Jego again: “There are 51 laps. Baku can be very complicated. Never It’s the end, so whatever happens to you… If you lose pace at the start or if you gain a position, remember that we have to stay focused and anything can happen. We have a fast car, you are driving well, you learned a lot about what you have to do in time management. If you apply everything… it will be payday. Focus on everything you learned and you will be doing great,” the engineer told the Argentine, according to Carburando, at the scene.