During his short cameo in F1 last season, Franco Colapinto impressed fans not just with exemplary driving skills but also with his off-track humor. The Argentine’s wit often comes to the fore on social media and in interviews. At times, it goes a bit overboard, too.
There is no doubt that Colapinto was quite entertaining in Williams’ Team Torque podcast episodes alongside Alex Albon—which garnered around 50-100k views on average. But such unfiltered and candid responses can also get any athlete in trouble. That’s why most of the F1 drivers, and even some of the F2 drivers, have PR teams managing things around them.
Academy drivers are often media-trained before they make appearances in the F1 paddock. But it seems like Colapinto skipped all those sessions. And that was pointed out on Wednesday when Colapinto reposted NSFW content on his X account.
A woman wearing Colapinto’s oversized Williams t-shirt, but without trousers, posted her picture on X. The 21-year-old driver, knowingly or unknowingly, reposted that post.
Several fans, who had turned on their notifications on Colapinto’s X account, immediately got to know, and even before the Argentine could do anything about it, the screenshots were all over the internet. This led to fans pointing out that “Franco needs to be media trained immediately.”
People were talking about Franco Colapinto so I got curious and I- BROTHER I AM FASTING. Ya allah give this man some PR training
— Nora (@nora_jooe) March 26, 2025
thankyou to moot who sent me the screenshot of the franco colapinto notif of that retweet lmfaoooo
— ˚ʚ mae || メイ ɞ˚ (@FormulaLando) March 26, 2025
Colapinto has a massive fan following in South America, so there were many reactions in Spanish, too. “Franco Colapinto today hahahahaha what a f***ing guy,” said a user [Google translated].
“Now I understand why they talked so much about Colapinto hahahahaha you let a frank RT slip away,” said another fan [Google translated].
Colapinto indeed needs to have some media training because one wrong social media activity or a comment on camera can put his career in jeopardy. Though no harm of that degree was incurred in this instance.
However, with a possible stint at Alpine after the Miami Grand Prix reportedly on the cards, Colapinto would have the spotlight as well as the media glare on him. So, there is no harm in taking the advice from fans, and hiring a PR team.
Previously, the 21-year-old has caught flak on social media for ambitiously updating his Instagram bio with ‘Formula 1 driver for @alpinef1team’, even though he was only signed up as a reserve. This led to a backlash from fans, as it also put Jack Doohan’s status as Alpine’s full-time driver under question. So, Colapinto had to immediately change his bio.
Even though he has raced for a handful of races, the Argentine is among the most adored drivers also because of his carefree behavior. His personality is a big draw, but things could backfire as well if he is not more measured with his words and actions off the track.
