Franco Colapinto (Pilar, 21 years old) has a special spark, a magnetism that forces people to look at him and when he does so he lets out a comment loaded with humor or sarcasm. He earned a seat in Formula 1 thanks to an insistently chiseled talent. He was at the right time when a window opened into the elite of motorsport. He is seen as Williams’ intern. Now the young practitioner never tires of surprising everyone outside and inside the car. Squeeze the final stretch of the season to be able to get a place next year or perhaps in 2026.
Colapinto organized a meeting with journalists in Mexico City, with the help of MercadoLibre, one of its great patrons in the adventure of Formula 1 and who wants to leave its mark on the company’s colors on the driver’s helmet for the remainder of the season. and in the car. “It is an important weekend here in Mexico, also Brazil because I will be closer to home. I will run for the first time close to home, in Latin America,” he said this Wednesday. “I want to show that I am here to stay,” mentioned the runner who was sheltered by the leadership of the shipping company.
The Argentine has suffered almost the same fate as Checo Pérez: having to make a living as a driver away from home, taking risks in the European categories and finding sponsors who could pay for his career on the circuits. First he started like everyone else in karting from the age of nine. At the age of 15 he moved to Europe to compete in the minor categories in Spain where he raced in a team owned by Fernando Alonso, whom he passed last Sunday at the Austin Grand Prix. His arrival in Formula 3 occurred in 2022 after having enjoyed glory in divisions such as the Toyota Racing Series, Euroformula Open and Formula Renault. It was also surprising to see him compete in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2021 and where his team finished in seventh place.
Thanks to his performances, Colapinto was signed by the Williams driver academy, the great team of the eighties that in the last 10 years has suffered to avoid being last in the standings. The real problem was when in 2023 he had to compete in the run-up to Formula 1 because he did not have a large fortune or a large sponsor to put up two million euros to cover the expenses. The #FranColapintoaF2 campaign was echoed on social networks and thus the support of companies such as Globant and even the musician Bizarrap was added, who opened more doors for him. The driver managed to get to Formula 2 and there he waited until last August, when the British team fired the unfortunate Logan Sargeant for poor performance after two seasons.
Colapinto burst into F1 with force. He debuted at the legendary Monza track, where he finished twelfth. In Azerbaijan he finished in eighth place, which meant having earned his first points in Formula 1, an achievement that takes more than one season for many drivers or teams. In Singapore he managed to stay in eleventh place, just shy of being able to add again. Where he shined was in Austin. There in the sprint race he finished in 12th place and in the race he finished tenth after pushing the tires to the limit. He has more points (five) in the season than the two Kick Sauber drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Gyanyu, who have not scored. Each point helps Williams avoid last place and get more money from the FIA: whoever finishes higher in the classification receives the more money.
What has fascinated Latin American fans is the Argentine cadence with which he performs before the press. A night of pranks The Anthillqualifying days joking that he doesn’t understand why his track engineer talks to him so much or the jokes with the insider of F1, his compatriot Juan Fosarolli. “Post 12!” the reporter said to Colapinto in Monza, “are you impressed, idiot?” the pilot replied.
“It was impossible to think that an Argentine driver would reach F1. Although I am the one who arrived, this opens the doors more. “Guys who are starting out in karting write to me, they became fans and experts from one day to the next,” said Colapinto, who jokes with Mercado Libre directors like someone talking to university friends. The helmet he will use in Mexico was revealed in a shipping package, with yellow paper, “a lot of yellow, like Boca [Junior, su equipo de fútbol preferido]”. The scene took on humor thanks to the spark of the boy who uses any space in the media to make a declaration of intent: “I’m here to stay.”
