Williams announced Franco Colapinto as Logan Sargeant’s mid-season replacement after the Dutch GP, which raised quite a few eyebrows on the paddock. Colapinto, who competed in F2, was not on the rumored shortlist of Sargeant’s replacements with more experienced drivers like Liam Lawson and Mick Schumacher in contention. Team Principal James Vowles, however, knew how special he was.
“What I drove back to is this: he’s faster than people realize,” said Vowles. The British boss was skeptical about Colapinto, but the work he put in on the simulators during his time as Williams’ junior driver, made Vowles realize that there was a lot more to the Argentine.
“You need to see it for yourself. It’s based on what he did in Silverstone and what he’s doing in the simulator, which sometimes doesn’t always correlate, but there was good evidence to suggest as much.”
P12 for Franco Colapinto in the #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/XDRPpatkwl
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) September 1, 2024
Vowles then recalled how he too was once a young graduate, and that someone had put money into his development, albeit on the managerial side of things. “If you invest in the right individuals who have the right backing, you’ll be surprised what you can get back from them.”
Vowles was talking about the start of his F1 career, which began at BAR (British American Racing), the team based out of Brackley — that soon became Honda, Brawn and then finally, Mercedes. He had to rely on his seniors to believe in him, which is what made him Head of Strategy at Mercedes, and then allowed him to leave the stable to become Team Principal at Williams.
Vowles’ decision to have Colapinto in the team seems to have paid off for now. The 21-year-old made a good first impression on the F1 community, finishing P12 – not too far away from the points – at the Italian GP last weekend.
Colapinto will now get eight more Grand Prix weekends in F1 to prove himself, before stepping aside to let Williams’ future full-time driver Carlos Sainz take the helm in 2025.
