After a P15 finish in Franco Colapinto’s maiden F1 race at Monza, James Vowles admitted he was ‘impressed’ with the rookie.
On the Tuesday before the Italian Grand Prix, Franco Colapinto was announced as the mid-season replacement for Williams’ Logan Sargeant. With just two days of preparation, the F2 rookie was thrown into the fastest race on the F1 calendar.
Prior to Monza, the Argentine F2 driver Colapinto had only had an hour in the cockpit of the FW46. However, team principal, James Vowles, believed Colapinto had a better chance at points than Sargeant heading into the final races of the 2024 season.
Quickly, Colapinto aimed to prove himself. The Argentine driver stayed close to teammate Albon in the early practice sessions. Notably, he managed to keep the FW46 out of the gravel – something many other drivers had been unable to do across the weekend.
When it came to qualifying, Q2 seemed achievable for the team. Alex Albon made it through, yet again showing the strength of the Williams around the ‘temple of speed’. However, a mistake from Colapinto in Q1 meant he started the race on Sunday in P18 missing out on Q2.
Vowles admitted that qualifying was the ‘only mistake’ for the rookie in the entire weekend. He told AutoSport:
“Up to his mistake in qualifying he was within a tenth of Alex. That’s the only mistake that anyone can put on him, and without that, I think he could have been fighting for a point on his first outing. So I’m very, very happy with everything that he’s done and how he’s built up into it.”
A quick turnaround
It wasn’t just the result which had impressed Vowles. He praised the way Franco Colapinto dealt with the pressure of the weekend. He admitted, “Part of the reason why he’s in the car is his ability to cope with immense amounts of pressure,” He said.
“You still [need to] have a natural ability to drive quickly, but he’s not really flappable.”
The Argentine driver also turned heads due to the fact he hadn’t completed a full season in F2, with 2024 being his rookie year in the feeder series.
This meant that Colapinto had to take on an extortionate amount of information before any racing began. From small procedural issues to getting used to a Formula One pit stop. James Vowles was quick to praise the driver on how quickly he picked everything up.
He said, “He procedurally got everything correct that he needed to; at the start, he didn’t lose position. He did a good job at the pitstop.
“We loaded him up with more information than a human being can take, and if you ask him now, he’ll say that was definitely too much. But it didn’t cause him to go into any other state than ‘this is how I do things, and this is how I perform the best’, and that’s part of the reason why he’s in the car.”
A possible opportunity?
There are 8 races left for Colapinto and no seat at Williams on the horizon. This is his opportunity to show all the teams on the grid that he deserves a permanent place. The potential to follow in the footsteps of other rookies like Bearman and De Vries, both gaining seats after impressive performances.
Feature Image Credit: Williams Racing