“To have the opportunity to be here, speaking to all of you, it’s a pleasure.”
New Williams driver Franco Colapinto there – addressing a packed scrum of Formula 1’s press corps in a sweltering tent at Monza that was in places five people deep.
Let’s see if the 21-year-old still feels that way after the nine races he will compete in to end this campaign in place of the ousted Logan Sargeant. After all, Lando Norris has grown weary of his expanded media duties – per F1’s rules – after just a few weeks now McLaren is firmly at the head of the pack…
But it was a sweet start for the Argentinian. He moved to Italy to pursue his single-seater racing dream aged 14 – learning Italian from mechanics at a kart factory before starting to climb the ladder from Spanish Formula 4.
He joined Williams’ Academy at the start of last year, and now that the team has moved to drop Sargeant after a string of underwhelming results alongside Alex Albon, he becomes its 55th F1 world championship race driver.
“I am just extremely grateful with Williams for the opportunity,” he added. “It came very late, of course, but I’m always ready.
“I was not expecting it, to be honest. I cannot explain you how happy I am to be here with Williams. They have been very supportive and the opportunity that they have given to me is insane.”
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Less insane that Colapinto has been granted his debut at Monza – one of F1’s less technical tracks and where the Williams package has performed strongly in recent years.
“If I could choose a track to do my first race at,” Albon said when asked about his new team-mate in this weekend’s pre-event press conference, “I think Monza is one of the more forgiving ones. Better than Baku or Singapore.”
Colapinto can also see out the 2024 campaign without the pressure to earn a 2025 F1 race seat – at least not at Williams, which will have Carlos Sainz join Albon for next year. Colapinto says “I have no idea about next year” at this stage regarding his plans for 2025, where he could return to F2 competition.
Overall, this was a clear moment of excitement for the youngster, who is out to grasp his chance solidly. Alongside this opportunity, Williams announced a new Argentina-based sponsor on Thursday evening.
Colapinto found out he’d be getting his F1 chance last Monday, when he was “in the Formula 2 sim, with…
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