the arrival of Colapinto “pushed” Albon

The Williams team finished ninth and penultimate in the constructors’ standings at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 world championship campaign. The British team finished the year with 17 points on the clock, including 12 for Alex Albon alone, leader of the team since his arrival in 2022.

But, if the Thai driver established himself as a natural leader at Williams against teammates like Nicholas Latifi or Logan Sargeant, the arrival of Colapinto from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza put him under more pressure , which is welcomed by James Vowles, the team director, who is delighted with the contribution of the Argentine driver during the second part of the season.

“The first thing is that [Colapinto] is an individual who loved every moment spent in a Formula 1 car and within the team”, comments the British leader. “You can see it in what he expressed to people, what he said on TV and how he was on the radio. It helps because you have a really tight-knit team, giving the opportunity to an individual who deserved his chance and who deserves to be in Formula 1.”

“Secondly, it pushed Alex. There’s no doubt about that. We progressed as a team because we found different areas to try different settings, different electronic tools, different ways of approaching a lap .And every driver in the world, every human being in the world, improves by being put under pressure and ultimately, Franco brought that to the team.

After a remarkable debut at Monza – replacing Logan Sargeant, who arrived after Zandvoort – Franco Colapinto finished conquering the members of the Williams team, but also the general public, by winning the points for eighth place on his second outing during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. A good day for the team, since the South American finished in the wake of his teammate, seventh on the finish line, and the first double result in the points since the 2023 United States Grand Prix (Albon ninth ahead Sargeant).

Quickly accompanied by a certain dynamic, Franco Colapinto was the subject of the wildest speculation, rumors going so far as to mention his possible arrival at Red Bull in 2025 to replace Sergio Pérez, but several damaging and high-impact accidents financial for the team, caused its rating to drop. Alpine nevertheless reached an agreement with Colapinto, to recruit him as a test driver… and perhaps better after a few races.

The promotion and good performances of the native of Buenos Aires in 2024 have highlighted the training program of the Williams Academy, from which he comes, and which has around ten drivers, including the British Jamie Chadwick (Indy Lights), the Frenchman Alessandro Giusti (FRECA), or two other British drivers, Zak O’Sullivan (F2) and Luke Browning (F3).

“Ultimately what we saw is that we have a great future ahead of us,” Vowles continues. “We have a thriving academy in the background, and Franco is a brilliant member of it. But we have many others, much younger, up to 10 years old. But the Williams Academy is real, it’s authentic, and we’ll put these individuals in the car. And Franco represents that.”