Franco Colapinto continues with his dream in Formula 1. The 21-year-old Argentine driver, the great revelation of the top category of motorsports this season, will compete next weekend in his ninth and last race of the year. It won’t be in just any place, but in one that marked his career in a very special way.
“Franco Colapinto got into an F1 for the first time in Abu Dhabi. A year later, he returns to the circuit where it all began,” posted the official account of the category.
Just a few days after debuting in the Formula 2, in which he was supposed to race throughout 2024, the Buenos Aires driver got on a Formula 1 on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 as part of the postseason tests for young drivers. He completed 300 kilometers on the Yas Marina circuit at the wheel of the FW45 Williams and he obtained the Super License that enables him to race in the premier category. That dream would end up reaching even more than expected.
On the day of testing, in which pilots recognized as Carlos Sainzthe Mexican Sergio “Checo” Pérez and the french Esteban OconColapinto set a time of 1m26s832 and was the tenth fastest of the session. The best was the Spanish from Ferrari, who clocked 1m24s799.
That morning in Argentina, Colapinto was able to reduce his records with different types of tires and before the end of the first half of the tests he had managed to get among the best eight in the classification, just over two seconds from the lead. In the end he placed tenth. And he even achieved better records than some members of the Great Circus grid. Ocon (Alpine) was 12th with 1m26.958; the australian Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri), 13th with 1m26s965; and the thai Alex Albonhis current teammate at Williams, came 18th with 1m28s747.
The Buenos Aires native stood out during 2023 in the Formula 3 with the MP Motorsport. He added two victories and five podiums, and had a chance of being runner-up until the last date, although he finished fourth. That very good season opened the door to F2 for next year and left him with the chance to get into a car in the most important category in motorsport.
“It’s crazy to think that, with the level of drivers in Argentina, there hasn’t been one in F1 in so long. “It is a pride to think that I am going to be the Argentine who will get back into a car of this category.”he said at that time in an interview published by the official account of the highest category.
Furthermore, he had admitted: “I think about it and I still can’t believe it. Ever since I started racing karts I dreamed of one day getting into an F1. And to now be so close to being able to fulfill that dream, with the help of Williams, is something very nice. It is a unique opportunity. “I grew up working for this and for it to happen at the end of 2023 is a source of pride.”
Member of the Williams Driver Academy Since the beginning of 2023, the man from Pilar was chosen by the British team to drive one of its cars in the Rookie Tests that take place after the close of the maximum championship.
More than 22 years had passed since the last time an Argentine driver had officially driven in Formula 1. It was Gastón Mazzacanewho abandoned due to engine failure midway through the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome.
Colapinto’s test aboard the FW45 also meant the return of an Argentine to Williams Racing in F1. More than 40 years ago, Carlos Reutemann He joined the British team, with which he obtained 3 victories and 16 podiums over the three seasons, finishing runner-up in the world in 1981.