Franco Colapinto will face a key step this Friday in his quest to tick all the boxes to finally reach Formula 1: in the first free practice of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the driver from Buenos Aires will get into the Williams that is usually driven by the American Logan Sargeant.
Although Colapinto already tested the British team’s car in public tests held at the end of last year, this will be the first time he has driven it in a Grand Prix, and on none other than one of the most iconic circuits in the world circus.
In this regard, Williams team boss James Vowles detailed what they expect from Franco Colapinto’s debut. “The advice I gave him was to enjoy it,” said Vowles in the press conference before the race. “He has already driven a Formula 1 car before, but it was in a rookie test. This time it is the first time he can do it in front of 70 million people,” said the British engineer.
As for the team’s expectations regarding the Argentine’s performance, Vowles lowered the level of demand regarding lap time, although he clarified that they will seek to consolidate other parameters. “I told him that we are not specifically looking at what speed he is doing a high-speed corner, but rather how he effectively builds up in it, what his low speed is like, how his braking is and how his traction focuses on the basics,” explained the Williams team boss, who also warned him of the demand he will have on a circuit as fast as Silverstone.
“I warned him that at Silverstone the track will bite him, he has high speed that is unrivalled by anything else on the grid. There is nothing that really comes close. But he should enjoy the moment when it happens because he has the opportunity to officially be a Williams driver, a Grand Prix driver as part of a race weekend,” Vowles said.
Colapinto will test a Williams car this Friday in free practice for the British GP. This season was the Pilar-born driver’s debut in Formula 2, in which he won a race in Imola and achieved several podiums in the main races in Barcelona and Austria, as well as four more participations in which he scored points for MP Motorsport.
His arrival in this category had come with a marathon rise after his second year in Formula 3, where he achieved two race victories, including one at Silverstone, three more podiums and a total of 14 points in the final results that took him to fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship.
This is a great opportunity for Colapinto, who has a good chance of becoming the first Argentine representative in the Formula 1 championship since Gastón Mazzacane between 2000 and 2001.
2024-07-04 16:37:49
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