Franco Colapinto impresses in F1, earning Albon’s praise as Alpine’s reserve, patiently awaiting his chance to join the grid.
Faced with an uncertain future in F1 and joining Alpine for the coming years, likely waiting for Jack Doohan to falter, Franco Colapinto revealed which moment from the 2024 F1 season he would change if he could.
The Argentine driver made a surprising impact on the F1 grid mid-season when Williams chose him to replace the struggling Logan Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix.
While he could have secured a full-time seat with a team in 2025, he will instead serve as a reserve driver for the French team, prepared to wait for his chance.
He now admits to having experienced a difficult moment he wishes he could have avoided, one that may have cost him a spot on the Melbourne grid.
“I’m mostly thinking about qualifying in Las Vegas; that crash hurt my ego. In Brazil, it was my first time on wet tires. It was a big accident, but I see it as less of a disaster.”
“Yes, it was a disaster, but in my mind, Vegas was far worse. I still feel it was a much bigger mistake than in Brazil.”
When asked whether Colapinto’s crashes had tarnished his end of the season, his former teammate Alex Albon responded: “I hope not. I don’t think he deserves to have that negative image.”
“I think it’s closely tied to the car’s performance, which became tricky at the end of the season. It was tricky for me too. I didn’t have a fantastic end to the season, and I don’t always blame myself for it, so I think the team knows how good he’s been.”
“In terms of timing, I think it was perfect that he arrived when the car was at its most competitive and perhaps easier to drive than it was later, on tracks that were also quite enjoyable to drive.”
“To be honest, he did a very good job in Baku and Singapore, and those weren’t easy tracks for driving our FW46. And then, it’s F1; we just fell back. You could still make it into Q2 with an average lap, whereas later you needed an excellent lap to get into Q2 and all that kind of thing. And it slightly varies where that happens or doesn’t.”
“It’s easy to push too hard when the pace is so tight, and there’s no margin for slowing down or making a mistake. We both had difficult races, so I wouldn’t hold it against him too much. Especially in Brazil, being on wet tires for the first time isn’t easy on a challenging track. And then, obviously, Las Vegas was just complicated.”
“Franco is a fantastic driver. I feel he has proven his worth in Formula 1. For sure, when he arrived, I underestimated how quick he was going to be, and I think we’ll see him in a Formula 1 car again at some point in the future.”
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Colapinto Ready to Shine as Alpine’s Reserve Driver Colapinto Ready to Shine as Alpine’s Reserve Driver
