Franco Colapinto made his F1 debut at the Italian GP and impressed everyone with his overall pace. The Argentine finished in P12, just outside the points. However, in the very next race in Azerbaijan, Colapinto finished P8 and scored four points for the team and was just a few seconds behind far more experienced Williams teammate Alex Albon.
With Colapinto impressing most, it is unsurprising for most of the spotlight to be on him. Williams team principal James Vowles has now revealed how he spotted the young Argentine.
Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Vowles said, “He was very special, just wasn’t known to the world. His father sold his house for him to go and do one championship which is the F4 championship, which is how I spotted him. He won in a team that was not at the right level, but he won and that opened the door for him.”
| James Vowles sobre el rendimiento de Franco en Fórmula 1
“No esperaba lo que hizo con el auto, y lo que no era visible era que estaba al ritmo de Alex. Eso no sucede, no debería suceder… Lo afronto admirablemente.”
[WSJ]#ColapintoToF1In2025 pic.twitter.com/zZIGBCRLK7
— Colapinto News (@Colapinto_news) September 19, 2024
Vowles explained how Colapinto was racing in the Asian LeMans series at the time and that’s how he met the Argentine. Vowles then put Colapinto in the simulator and then promoted him to the F2 team. After the Argentine started winning races in F2, Williams gave him a chance to step into their F1 car at Silverstone during a practice session.
This is when Vowles was shocked and caught off guard. The Williams team principal explained how Colapinto was matching Albon’s pace during the session.
Vowles didn’t expect it at all because F1 is a huge step up from F2. Vowles explained that Colapinto’s performance made it easier for him to put the Argentine in the car in place of the underperforming Logan Sargeant.
Colapinto details his childhood struggles to pursue his F1 dream
Colapinto is of Spanish origin from his paternal side and of Ukrainian origin from his mother’s side. The Williams driver grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved out of the country at the tender age of 14.
The Argentine moved to Italy for karting, and then to make his F1 dream come true. Since motorsports are much more competitive in Europe and the karting series are easily accessible, it isn’t unusual for any aspiring racing drivers to make this move to Europe. However, Colapinto made the move all by himself with the family still in Argentina.
Colapinto told F3’s official site, “It was really tricky, but I think that was one of the years where I grew the most. I had to grow really quickly because of the situation I was in, but I think it was definitely a very nice experience”.
