Franco Colapinto took the world of Formula One by storm following the decision from Williams to release the hapless Logan Sargent and promote their Argentinian academy driver. He had hours to prepare for his first full Grand Prix weekend in Italy given the Floridian had piloted the FW46 the weekend before in Zandvoort.
If qualifying eighteenth was slightly disappointing for Franco in Monza, the race would more than make ups for his disappointment as he came home in a creditable P12. Next time out Colapinto was scoring points in Baku and a mature performance in the race saw him finish right behind team mate Alex Albon who was seventh.
Argentina’s Rising Star Stuns in Singapore
Points were on offer again in Singapore where the Argentina stunned the paddock by making the final session of Sprint qualifying, while his British born Thai team mate failed to make it out of Q1. In the shortened version of the Grand Prix, Franco remained ahead of his team mate but failed to score points.
Come Grand Prix qualifying the Williams pair were less comparative with both Albon and Colapinto propping up the grid. ahead of the Sauber pair. This time it was a drive from P17 to P11 which caused a stir in the paddock, with many now believing a new F1 star of the future had been born.
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Breaking Records and Making Headlines in the USA
More points in the USA meant Franco had delivered more in just four races than his predecessor Logan Sargeant had in 36 starts. Yet this was the high point for the pride of Argentina who qualified poorly in Mexico and retired from there Grand Prix with brake failure.
The came the first real test for the Williams protege as a rain soaked Brazil created challenging conditions for even the most experienced drivers in the field. He crashed twice in qualifying and the race heaping pressure on the already parts shy Williams team. Another crash in Las Vegas and now for Red Bull, the once to have been the brightest rising star on the Strip was beginning to fade. Alpine too had expressed an interest, but they too have now promoted their academy driver, Jack Doohan, to replace Esteban Ocon for the last race of the year in Abu Dhabi.
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Red Bull’s Interest: Conditional on Performance
Red Bull were believed to have tabled an offer for the Williams young upstart all be it conditional on results forthcoming to the end of the year. Christie Horner was seen to be meeting with Williams boss James Vowles to discuss they buyout fee included in Draco’s contract.
A surge in commercial interest from South America had put both Red Bull and Alpine on alert. The hope was backers for the Argentinian would deliver the funds Williams required to make their reserve driver a free agent. This wold give Colapinto’s sponsors more visibility than were he to remain in the garage at Williams as their reserve driver.
Yet the dream for now is over for Franco who will compete this weekend in his last race for the Williams team for quite some time. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have contracts which take them into the 2026 which means at least two years on the sidelines for Franco Colapinto.
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Alpine’s Interest: A Glimmer of Hope for Colapinto
Yet all might not be lost for F1’s latest exciting raw talent given the European press reports that Alpine remain interested in his services. The team’s executive advisor, Flavio Briatore, is said to be exploring the possibility of bringing in Colapinto should Doohan prove to be more of a Logan Sargeant.
Doohan is reportedly to have a guaranteed contract for just the first five races of 2023 and should he not meet performances clauses when benchmarked against team mate Albon, the Aussie may be out of F1 before his journey properly begins.
Colapinto is undoubtedly a genuine talent and as Red Bull have discovered over the years, Latin American sponsors pay good money to get their driver into a F1 team.
Alpine are one of the teams who are not funded to the level of the cost cap expenditure and for them a host of wealthy sponsors from the America’s would be a welcome respite in their constant battle to be competitive.
Colapinto may then yet make it to F1 for next year should Doohan struggle in the early rounds. Reed Bull who looked the most likely to sign Colapinto at one point, will now return to the conundrum that is their young driver programme.
With Perez gone, the decision must be made who joins Max Verstappen in the Red Bull and who comes into join the remaining driver at RB. This will almost certainly be F2 title challenger Isak Hadjar, although he failed to impress in an FP1 outing at the British Grand Prix.
Hadjar’s Key Weekend
Hadjar is half a point behind Gabriel Bortoleto in the F2 title race with a Sprint and Feature race coming this weekend in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull appeared to lose confidence in their F2 star as his mid-season form led the boil, but in recent outings his challengers for the championship is back on track.
Unlike the other teams, Red Bull does not invoke the ‘testing of previous cars’ provision for its young drivers and so Hadjar has had little in the way of private testing.
He will drive the RB20 of Max Verstappen this weekend in FP1 as Red Bull needs to fulfil the requirement of fielding two junior drivers during the year. Red Bull now need to focus on their driver academy for new and upcoming F1 pilots, as the Colapinto decision would have raised questions over whether the team remains committed to its young driver programme.
Should Hadjar fare well in FP1 and then clinch the F2 championship, it would be tough for Red Bull to refuse him a drive at the V-CARB team.
Meanwhile in a surprise turnaround, it is Yuki Tsunoda who is now the favourite of both Christian Horner and Dr. Helmut but Marko to join Verstappen in the bug bulls team for 2025.
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All this followed comments made by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem which had likened the swearing of the F1 drivers to that of “rappers,” something which Lewis Hamilton took great exception to.
Hamilton argued this was a racist trope and stated the president of the FIA should choose his words more carefully, something the drivers highlighted in their open correspondence…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
