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Colapinto did a 'fantastic' job in his F1 debut, says Vowles
© Florent Gooden / DPPI
Successful premiere for Franco Colapinto in Formula 1The Argentine had a solid weekend at Monza for his first Grand Prix, just days after his tenure by Williams to replace Logan sargeant until the end of the season. In less than a week, the 21-year-old driver had to transform into a Formula 1 driver and take on a new role in the premier class, supported by an entire country that had been waiting for this moment since 2001.
Despite the pressure on his shoulders, the rookie responded to the challenge on the Lombard track. On Saturday, for his first qualification, the number 43 placed his Williams in 18th place, less than three tenths from a passage in Q2 (with a final aborted attempt). On Sunday, in the race, Franco Colapinto kept up with his rivals and managed to gain six positions, to finish the Italian Grand Prix in 12th place after a clean and error-free race.
A race “perfectly executed” by Colapinto
A successful first copy for the young Argentinian who impressed the pit wall at Monza. "This weekend Franco did a good job as we really got him out of the Formula 2 to put it immediately into Formula 1, but with significant amounts of preparation behind the scenes", James Vowles stressed in a video posted by Williams on his websiteThe Team Principal also said that Franco Colapinto had handled the situation perfectly with the tyre wear and the overheating of the rear tyres on the FW46.
“He executed the race perfectly, going forward and passing the cars. I think if qualifying had gone as planned – and to be transparent, he was less than a tenth behind Alex [Albon] coming out of turn seven, so very, very close – he would have potentially had a chance to score points. And that's for your first outing in a car [F1] is fantastic", Judge James Vowles.
For Franco Colapinto, after having managed to get his foot in the stirrup, he will now have to confirm this in the next Grands Prix, which will not be easy events with the succession of two urban circuits, Baku and Singapore. In any case, the great performance at Monza should give him full confidence for the future.
ALSO READ > Franco Colapinto and a dream weekend: “I will never forget it”
Dorian Grangier
A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.
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Yves-Henri RANDIER
04/09/2024 at 09:20 a.m.
Good work from the Argentinian rookie who will quickly eclipse Sargeant but still far from the performance of Nick De Vries during the same Italian GP in 2022. Let's wish Colapinto a better career in F1 than De Vries even if he will not be a starter in 2025!