Williams Formula 1 boss James Vowles is so confident that Franco Colapinto deserves to play next season that he doesn’t mind the Argentine returning to take points off his current team.
Colapinto has attracted attention since being promoted to a Formula One seat from the Italian Grand Prix after Vowles made the decision to retire from Logan Sargeant following a series of poor performances and costly crashes.
The decision to bring F2 contender Colapinto on board instead of a more experienced driver like Mick Schumacher caused a stir, but after just three races Vowles’ decision appeared to have been vindicated.
Colapinto has impressed in his three F1 Grand Prix races so far. He recovered from a poor qualifying to finish 12th at Monza before overtaking teammate Alex Albon at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and then scoring his first points when he finished eighth.
He then battled with Sergio Perez before finishing 11th in Singapore and heading into this weekend’s United States Grand Prix with the Red Bull driver’s praise ringing in his ears.
However, with Williams pairing Albon with Carlos Sainz from next year, there is no place for Colapinto to land a full-time ride. But Vowles wants him racing in 2025, with places at Sauber and RB still up for grabs.
“It’s definitely not out of the question,” Vowles replied when asked at an Autosport Business panel event in Austin whether Colapinto could compete next year.
“It’s more up to one or two other teams not to give too much away, but from my point of view he absolutely earned his starting place within a few races.
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“He hasn’t finished his growth yet, he’s getting faster and faster and I think other teams in the starting lineup know that too. So even if he takes points away from us, he is a professional racing driver and should be racing in Formula 1. It’s that simple.”
Colapinto’s first taste of Formula 1 came when he took the wheel for FP1 at the British Grand Prix earlier this year.
Vowles knew straight away that the 21-year-old was fast, but was amazed at how he was able to maintain that speed when the going got tough.
“When I took a step back, I knew he was incredibly fast,” he added.
“When we first put him in the car at Silverstone you looked at it and thought, ‘Jeez, that’s going so fast’.”
“But there’s no pressure on your shoulders [in FP1]. How does that translate when there is pressure?
“Since then he’s been…Singapore is probably the toughest race you can throw someone in at the deep end and he basically delivered a near perfect result the first time around.”